


Hammersmith

by missdibley



Category: British Actor RPF, Cranford - All Media Types, Persuasion - Jane Austen, Return to Cranford, Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: AU, Austen-esque, Cunnilingus, F/M, Family Drama, Persuasion - Freeform, Return to Cranford - Freeform, Rough Sex, Slow-ish burn, Smut, Summer Love, Young Love, angsta, anguish, tom hiddleston fan fiction - Freeform, unprotected sex, william buxton fan fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-04-06 19:18:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4233597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missdibley/pseuds/missdibley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will Buxton and Alice Elliot fell in lust, and then in love, before they were separated by her family. Nine years later, he has returned to find her much the same as she was the summer they first met. He remembers her, but could he forgive her?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nine Years Ago

**Author's Note:**

> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpQ2lrZ5qjqQHNml6_GII2hzShhFrrn5f

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Alice made her way to the passenger door, tucking her book in her back pocket before opening the door. She slid in, closed the door, and drew her seatbelt around her, waiting until she heard the click of the buckle until she thought to look up. When she did, she froze, stopped by the sight of the most handsome boy she’d ever seen."

Alice Elliot stood in front of the Cranford General Store, waiting for her sister Elizabeth to show up with the Rover. Elizabeth was late. Alice didn’t mind waiting so much, not this time. She had a book to read and a bottle of ice cold water to rest against the nape of her neck. It was 1:00pm on a July Saturday, and July Saturdays in Cranford, Connecticut were scorching hot.

Alice looked up when she thought she heard the sound of her sister’s car speeding up Bath Street, only to frown when she saw it was instead a battered blue Ford F-150. The truck parked diagonally, a little too close to the curb, in front of where she stood.

A young man got out of the passenger seat. He wasn’t that much taller than Alice, who, at 5’8”, was tall for an Asian girl (or so her mother had always said). His hair was thick, dark, and curly, and there was hay sticking out of it. He had bright green eyes. He was about to head into the store when he turned around and asked the driver a question through the passenger side window.

“Beer? Water? Whatever?” He rocked back on his feet and laughed at whatever the driver said. Alice couldn’t see whoever it was sitting in the cool dark of the truck. “I’m not sure they’ll have a ‘bucket of Mountain Dew’ but I’ll do my best.” He turned around and caught Alice’s eye. Despite herself, she returned his friendly smile with a shy one of her own.

“Hey.” He jerked his head towards the store. “They got Mountain Dew?”

“I, I think so.” Alice shrugged. “I stick to water myself.”

“That’s probably for the best, but I think my buddy and I are gonna need the sugar and caffeine that only an extra-large Mountain Dew with ice can provide if we’re gonna finish haying this afternoon.” The young man stuck his hand out. “Jamie Benwick.”

“Alice Elliot.” She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable question.

“Elliot, as in Elliot Mills? Elliot Paper?”

Alice nodded. “Yeah. That’s me. Or my family, anyway.” she replied dully.

Jamie whistled. “What are you doing out here in Cranford? Shouldn’t you be over in Hammersmith with the other swells?” He meant it as a tease but when he noticed her sullen expression, the dog-eared book in her hand, and her outfit (a faded [Collegiate](http://www.collegiateschool.org/Page/About-Us/Welcome/History) t-shirt over cutoffs, and grubby [Tretorns](http://us.tretorn.com/nylite-womens-white-canvas-shoes/p/47222802/)), his face softened.

“Not really the Hammersmith type, are you?”

Alice nodded and smiled, just a little. She looked past Jamie at the truck. “Shouldn’t you be getting your Mountain Dew?”

Jamie ran his fingers through his hair, chuckling at the hay that fell out as a result. “Suppose so. Can I get you something from the store?”

Alice shook her head. “My sister’s coming to pick me up in a minute. Thanks, though.”

Jamie grinned. “Nice meeting you. Guess we’ll see you around?”

“We…?”

“Me and my buddy Will in the truck. We’ve got summer jobs on the Russell estate.”

Alice nodded. “I know the place.” She decided not to say that her own home, Kellynch Manor, was right next to Russell Hall. “I hear it’s nice.”

“She is.” Jamie straightened up and bowed, which made Alice giggle. “Until we meet again.” He dashed into the store.

Alice took another look up and down the street. She slid the rapidly warming water bottle against her neck, enjoying the condensation from the bottle that made cold wet trails on her hot skin. Her phone vibrated in her pocket. Fishing it out, she read the text from Elizabeth: “ran into a bunch of Kennedy cousins at club - call home, get Mary to pick you up - L”. Alice sighed and wiggled her toes in her shoes, then started to walk home.

“Hey!” Jamie called out to Alice as he emerged from the store. He held a paper sack in his hands. “Where are you going?”

She shrugged. “My sister bailed so I’m gonna walk.”

“Screw that, we’ll give you a ride. Where you going?”

“Um, Kellynch Manor. Which is…”

“Right next to the Russells’ estate.” Jamie grinned. “Why didn’t you say you knew them?”

Alice shrugged. "Not sure."

Jamie whistled. “Well, you’ve got to give us the dirt. Or at least let us take you home. Okay?” He smiled when Alice nodded. “Come on.”

Alice followed Jamie around to the back of the truck. She started to climb in when he stopped her. “Nope. You sit in the cab with Will. I insist.” He climbed in and sat in the flatbed.

“Well, let me take the groceries anyway.” She smiled when Jamie handed her the bag of food.

Alice made her way to the passenger door, tucking her book in her back pocket before opening the door. She slid in, closed the door, and drew her seatbelt around her, waiting until she heard the click of the buckle until she thought to look up. When she did, she froze, stopped by the sight of the most handsome boy she’d ever seen.

The most handsome boy Alice had ever seen had wide blue eyes, friendly and sweet under dark blond curls she desperately wanted to brush off his forehead. His long, slender fingers drummed the wheel, matching the erratic rhythm his feet tapped. The hair on his arms were golden after hours, days, of working in the sun. She wanted to taste his lips, which were thin but looked firm and kissable.

“You’re not Jamie.” Will smiled.

“I’m not?” Alice whispered, more to herself than to him. “No. I’m Alice. Alice Elliot.”

“Alice, Alice Elliot. I’m Will, Will Buxton. Are we driving you home?” Will laughed when Jamie rapped on the window to the cab. He slid it open so his friend could poke his head in.

“She tell you she knows the Russells? She lives right next door, too.”

Will looked at Alice, who nodded. “Well, hello neighbor. Let’s get you home, okay?”

Alice smiled. “Sure. That would be fine.”

Jamie rapped the top of the cab. “Alright, let’s go!”

It was a 20 minute drive from Cranford to the outskirts of Hammersmith where Alice lived. The road was too bumpy for Jamie to keep his head in the cab to talk, so he hung on for dear life and yelled occasionally. Will focused on the road, glancing up occasionally at Alice to smile reassuringly. He pulled up to the Kellynch Manor gate, letting the truck idle.

“I can bring you up to your house if you want.”

Alice looked down at her lap. “I… I don’t think I’m ready to go home yet.” She looked up at Will, then smiled. “Okay if I tag along with you guys?”

Will looked at her closely. He took in Alice’s black hair, which was straight and fine and caught in a sloppy ponytail with a ribbon. Her cheekbones, still sharp under a layer of baby fat, were high, and set off her eyes. He tried not to be too obvious when he considered the slight heave of her breasts under her thin t-shirt.

“Sure.” He looked back at Jamie. “It’ll be cool if she tags along, right?”

“Of course. Come and see what hard work looks like, Lady Alice.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “You mean the hard work that Mrs. Russell’s permanent staff will be doing?”

Will laughed. “Okay, minx. You asked for it.” He threw the truck back into gear, and drove through Russell Manor’s gates, past the mansion, and deep into the fields of the farm that occupied the far corner of the estate.

Will parked the truck in the shadow of the barn, then helped Alice out of the truck. “Grass is already cut and dried, so we’re just making the bales. We usually go swimming after. You’re welcome to join. Unless you don’t have a suit?”

Alice smiled, then lifted the hem of her t-shirt to show the tank suit she wore underneath. “I always wear one, especially on hot days like this, living so close to the pond.”

Will nodded. “Great. If you want someplace to read, the truck might not be a bad place. Keys are in the ignition, so you can listen to the radio.”

“What if I decide I want to steal the truck?” Alice tried to sound breezy, but her voice caught when Will reached out and tugged on her ponytail.

“Good girl like you? I don’t think so.” He shook his head. “See you in a bit.” He smiled at her, then turned and started walking towards the baler.

Alice returned to the truck, climbing into the cab and pulling the door shut. She leaned back in her seat, toeing off her shoes. She tried to read her book but she couldn’t keep her eyes off the boys in the field.

The Russells’ gardener ran the baler while Jamie and Will worked to fill it, spearing bundles of hay with pitchforks then heaving and tossing it into the machine. Sometimes the baler would be switched off so one of them could climb in and jump on the hay, packing it harder and faster with their feet.

Alice’s mouth was dry even after she’d finished her water. Her book was long forgotten by the time Jamie and Will removed their shirts which, after 30 minutes, were heavy with perspiration. In the privacy of the truck, she felt free to let her eyes roam over their muscled backs. While Jamie had a nice smattering of dark hair on his chest, Will’s own chest was practically bare. There was the hint of a fuzzy trail that began around his navel and traveled down into his shorts. Without meaning to, Alice rolled her hips whenever Will jerked his shoulders as he tossed the hay. Her mind would go blank when he’d take long, slow gulps of soda from the bottle of Mountain Dew that sat on the ground on his feet.

“Screw this,” she whispered. She unbuttoned the fly of her cutoffs, then slipped a finger between her legs, under her bathing suit. She began to rub her clit slowly. She wasn’t a virgin, hadn’t been since her first year in college when she’d managed to dispose of her virginity after a study break with the assistance of a neighbor she thought she could have been in love with. She stopped short of slipping a finger into her folds. No, just a few turns around her clit should suffice. Eyes closed, she shuddered to a quick release, hissing “Will” when she came. When she opened her eyes, the baler was off, and the boys were heading back to the truck. She got herself together just in time.

“And we’re done.” Jamie smiled, then looked at the book she left open on the dashboard. “Good book?”

“Huh? Um, sure.” Alice picked it up and frowned at the cover. “I’ve read it before.” She closed it and put it back. “That looked like hard work.”

Will reached in through the driver’s side window to poke her arm. “You think you might want to help next time?” He laughed when Alice shook her head and smiled.

Jamie jerked his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the pond. “Shall we?”

“Yes. Let’s.” Alice smiled and climbed out of the truck to follow them, sneakers and book in hand.

The pond was cool and still, disturbed for the first time that day when Jamie dove in. Neither he nor Will had bathing suits, stripping down to their boxer briefs for the afternoon’s swim. The water was bliss after hours spent in the sun, laboring in air that was heavy and humid.

Will stood in the water, chest deep, watching Alice as she neatly folded her shirt and shorts before placing them on a rock with her shoes and book. He gulped when he saw the soft swell of her belly, as he admired the gentle curve of her hips and thighs. She dove into the water, swimming just far enough past Will to give him a gentle nudge with her toes. He turned and, smiling, began a slow crawl after her.

By the time he caught up to her, she was floating on her back. He tickled the soles of her feet while he doggy paddled.

“Hey!” Alice smiled when Will flattened himself out and floated beside her.

“Do you really live at Kellynch?”

“What?” Alice tried to lift her head out of the water. “Sorry, I can’t hear you when my ears are under the water.” She turned her body in the water. “Swim back to the dock with me?”

“Sure.” They swam, side by side, slow enough and close enough that Alice could admire Will’s stroke. When they reached the dock, they arrived in time to see Jamie heading back towards the barn.

“Okay if I take the truck home? I’ve got a date tonight, gotta grab a shower.”

Will pulled himself onto the dock and flopped next to Alice, taking care to land on his stomach. Despite the coolness of the pond, the proximity of a girl who lay, heaving and wet in her bathing suit on the dock next to him, made for the beginnings of an erection. He folded his arms under his chin and sighed. “Sure thing. I can walk home. It’s not far.”

“Thanks. Nice meeting you, Alice.” Jamie nodded, and was gone.

Alice lay back and closed her eyes. “Schools, please.”

“Hamden Country Day, Hotchkiss, Harvard.”

Alice sat up. “You have a thing for the letter H?” She smiled when Will laughed.

“My family might. That’s where my dad and his brothers went. Grandfathers on both sides went to Harvard.”

Alice snorted. “And I’m supposed to be the fancy one.”

Will smiled shyly. “Well, my dad’s all about making me work for my own money these summers while I’m still in school.”

“And did you just happen to get this job at Russells’ on your own?”

“Sorta. Dad knows the Russells, but they’re not really close.”

“Ah.” She thought. “What are you studying?”

“Political science. Dad’s plan is law school, practice for a few years, then go into the public sector.” He shrugged. “Good experience for when I become a judge. I’m an only child, and my dad’s widowed. So I’ve got to carry on the Buxton legacy, whatever that is.”

“Is that what you want?”

“No.” Will closed his eyes. “I’d like to be an engineer. Mechanical engineering.”

“Hence the baling.”

“Precisely.” Will turned over on his side to face Alice once he felt his cock settle a bit. She had lain back down and shut her eyes, so he leaned in closer to look closely at her mouth (lips swollen, puckered from the water still) and her neck (pulsing, with a small dark freckle placed just on the left where her jaw began). He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. “Your turn.”

“Brearley, then Brown. Just finished my second year.”

“You have a thing for the letter B?” Will smiled at her.

“Jerk.” Alice sighed. “Brown was the only Ivy I bothered applying to. I wanted to go to Georgetown which my parents refused to pay for despite being staunch Catholics. They love that Brown is in the Ivy League, with lots of celebrities and royalty, but hate that the grading system is so lax.” She wrinkled her nose. “It’s fine.”

“What are you studying?”

“Art history. A nice discipline for nice girls like me.” She turned to look at Will, nearly catching him ogling her breasts. “But I think I may focus on performance and video art, really sexy weird stuff, just to piss them off.”

Will smiled. “Good for you. You have a sister, right?”

“Sisters. Elizabeth went to NYU for a semester before dropping out so she could study fashion in Paris. My parents are so into the glamour they haven’t noticed the absence of tuition bills in their mailbox. They just keep her checking account fat, and her credit card bills paid while she fucks her way around the Continent.”

“That sounds awfully judgmental.” Will’s voice was soft, appropriate for his mild reproach.

“Believe me, I’m being kind.” Alice reached out and touched Will’s wet curls, laughing when he shook his head. She let her hand linger, only pulling it back to examine a few pieces of hay she pulled from his hair. She smiled as she threaded one behind her ear. “My sister Mary just graduated from Hewitt. She’s going to Cornell.”

“Good for her.”

“I agree. Or I would if she wasn’t such a dope. She’ll probably end up transferring to Barnard so she can live at home. Eventually she’ll meet a nice boy who's first in his class at Columbia Law, and my parents will give them a down payment for a [classic six](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Six) in Carnegie Hill just like theirs.”

“Would it be so awful if Mary did that?”

“If it’s what she wants, then I guess not.” Alice shrugged.

“What do you want?” Will sounded urgent. He met Alice’s gaze as she considered his question.

“What do I want?” She considered how his lips were slightly parted. She wanted to run her finger along the bottom one, then slip her hand into his shorts. She wanted to take him into her mouth. She wanted him.

“I…” Alice was interrupted by a loud crack, followed by a boom.

“Shit. It’s gonna storm. We should go.” She let Will help her up. She gathered her things in her hands, not bothering to dress while he wiggled back into his cargo shorts, grabbing his shirt and shoes in hand. “Do you live far?”

“Just a couple of miles. Still on Russell property, but closer to the gates. There’s a carriage house.”

“Shit. My place is closer, and this storm is… here.” Alice looked up and smiled at the rain clouds over their heads. “Come with me.”

The rain came hard and fast, soaking them as they ran home. Alice ducked through a copse near the pond, then took Will’s hand to lead him through a small garden. The garden was a shabby thing, thin and patchy in places. Next to the garden was a stone cottage. She pushed her way through its heavy wooden door, then turned to face Will as he crashed in behind her. “Welcome.”

He had to duck through the door, which was low, but the ceiling of the one-room house was high. There was one story, with a sleeping loft accessible by a ladder. The furnishings were cast-offs, cheap and worn, except for the bookshelves which flanked the potbelly stove. They looked expensive and well taken care of.

Alice dropped her things on the kitchen table. “The cottage was built for the original caretaker. My mother fixed up the bathroom when she thought she wanted to put in a pool, make this into a cabana. Now I just sleep out here when we come to Connecticut for the summer. I’ve got a room in the main house but I haven’t slept there since middle school.”

Will looked around. “It’s nice. Private.”

Alice smiled. “Hence its appeal. Come on. There’s a heated towel rack in the bath. I’ll hang your clothes up there.” Alice walked through a door at the far end of the room, then showed him into a cozy bath. The floorboards were wide and painted a shiny white. The vanity was mirrored, and held an array of vintage glass bottles as well as an electric toothbrush. The tub was modern, though, with jets. It looked large enough to hold two people. Will pictured himself in the tub, lying in a cloud of bubbles with Alice, his hands exploring her body under the foam.

Alice looked at him closely. “I’m afraid to ask what you’re thinking.”

Will shook his head. “I was thinking I could use something to warm me up.”

“I’ve got something for that.” She held out her hand. “Clothes, please.”

Will took a step closer to her, then slipped a finger under one of the shoulder straps of her bathing suit. He looked down at her. “Ladies first.” He rested his hands on her shoulders before slipping the straps down her arms.

Once her arms were free, Alice placed her hands on Will’s shoulders as he continued to work. He paused when her suit was rolled down to her waist, permitting himself a moment to suck a nipple into his mouth. Alice whined but neither stopped him nor implored him to hurry. He worked the suit over her hips and down her legs, kneeling then grasping her hip as she stepped out of it.

Will looked up at Alice’s face, then carefully drew a finger down her slit, making her moan. “You’re wet.”

She laughed softly. “We just went swimming. And it is raining.”

“You’re turned on by the rain, then?” Will leaned in to kiss her between her legs.

“Oh god.” Alice sighed. “I… I may have touched myself earlier, when you and Jamie were working.”

“So when you say you have a book to read…?” He cackled when she pinched his ear.

“Jerk.” Alice took a seat on the edge of the tub, and ran a hand along his jaw. She leaned forward and kissed him.

In that kiss, Will knew heat and longing and hunger, feelings that he returned. He deepened the kiss as he ran his fingers through her wet hair, which hung down her back.

Alice gasped into his mouth, moaning as her tongue massaged and caressed his lips. She pulled away, showing him eyes that were dark and pupils blown wide with desire.

When he stood up, Will gazed at Alice’s face. He held his breath when she slowly eased off his shorts. He felt dizzy when she peeled off his boxer briefs, for she took his cock in her small, soft hand. She leaned down to take the tip into her mouth, moaning as she sucked, swirling her tongue around the head. She ran a hand from his hip up to his nipple where he caught it. He kissed her palm, then helped her to her feet.

The sleeping loft was snug but roomy enough to accommodate a queen size bed, mattress and boxspring in a proper frame with a headboard that was intricately carved with pomegranates and sheaves of wheat. As Will lay Alice down before him, he stopped to admire her. A skylight in the roof above in light that was dull and gray with rain, casting a strange and wonderful shadow on the two of them.

“What?” Alice flushed, then smiled when she saw the grin on his face.

“I can’t wait.”

“And yet there you stand.” She held her hand out to him.

Taking her hand, Will knelt on the floor in front of her. He pulled her closer to him, so he could wrap his arms around her legs and hold them apart, resting his hands on her belly. He nuzzled her inner thighs, breathing softly over her sex.

Alice fidgeted, biting her lip so she wouldn’t whine for him, wouldn’t beg. She gasped when she felt the tip of his tongue flick against her folds, gently at first and then more insistently. She cupped her breasts with her hands, then arched her back as she felt his lips close around her clit.

“You taste so good, love.” Will chuckled when Alice whimpered. “Hush.” He licked her, then pressed his tongue into her further, and began to lap at her slowly. He moaned when he tasted her, could feel her juices coat his nose, his lips, and his chin. She laughed softly, and he looked up. Her head was propped up by an arm so she could look down at him.

“That feels so good.” Alice licked her lips, then closed her eyes.

Will teased her labia with his tongue, waiting for her breath to quicken before he plunged his tongue into her core. She bucked her hips, and he tightened his grip on her thighs. He sucked on her clit, tickling it with his tongue when she pressed her ass into the mattress. He moved his hands to her sex, slipping two fingers into her while he began to crawl on top of her.

“Oh yes…” Alice opened her eyes and peeked down at his cock, which brushed against her thigh as he began to lower himself. As she spread her legs wider, she took him in hand and stroked him. “Yes, Will. Yes.”

He kissed her, then pulled away as he aligned his dick with the entrance to her sex. He slid the tip inside her, then looked at her face. Her eyes were open. “Ready?”

“Yes…” Alice gasped as he began to enter her. Her face contorted as she moved beneath him. “You’re so big.” She gasped. “Oh god, yes.”

“Should I stop? Or maybe you should go on top?”

Alice shook her head. “No. No.” She reached down and grabbed his ass. “Keep going.” She kissed the base of his throat. “Please.”

Will slid into her, rolling his hips when she dug her nails into the soft flesh of his buttocks. When he was was fully seated, he gasped. He bent down to kiss her temple. “You feel so good.”

Alice nodded. “You too. Oh… just…” She rolled her hips to meet his as he began to thrust into her. “Keep going.”

Will spread his knees apart, which brought Alice’s legs up so that her knees were closer to her shoulders. His pace was steady, with the occasional interruption when he’d pull out too far and his cock, slick with her juices, would slip out. Alice would laugh, then grasp him and lead him back to her cunt so he could slide back in.

Alice began to pant harder, which egged Will on. He raised himself up, sitting up and back on his legs before pulling her closer, so she lay with her legs spread and propped up on his thighs. She moaned louder when he grabbed her legs, thrust harder and rougher, and his breathing more ragged. Neither of them noticed that the rain now fell in sheets against the skylight, and that the house was dark and cool. They were both of them hot, flushed with desire and youth, and longing for connection.

Will’s pupils were so big as he looked at Alice squirming beneath him, adoring the way her breasts bounced as he fucked her. “Fuck, yeah,” he hissed when she reached down to rub her clit. He reached down to grab her breast for a squeeze.

Alice opened her eyes, then smiled as she took his hand and moved it to the base of her throat. She squeezed his fingers, then licked her lips.

“Are you sure?” Will growled when Alice nodded. “Say it.”

“Yes.” She closed her eyes.

As Will thrust into her harder and faster, he kept a loose hold on her neck. He didn’t squeeze, just enjoyed the feeling of her soft throat under his hand. He could almost wrap his fingers around her neck. He found it thrilling, the soft delicate throat and the slick, tight cunt that clenched at his cock as he thrust into her.

“So close. Will, I’m so close.” Alice purred, then squeaked when his free hand found her belly and stroked it. “Oh god. WILL! YESSSSSSS.” Her body slackened as Will bent over her, moving his hands to either side of her head so he could support himself while he fucked her, harder and faster. She screamed and began to jerk as her orgasm seized her, moving through her. She came hard, crying out his name again before her body went limp. She looked dazed for a moment, then alert, a tiny smile appearing as she felt Will begin to come.

“Oh fuck. Alice! FUCK. Yes! Yes! OH MY… GOD YES.” Will grit his teeth as he came, spilling inside of her. He bucked again at the wet sounds of his cock slipping in and out of her. He whimpered as she tightened around his cock, milking him while she pressed soft kisses to his chest. He collapsed on top of her, then groaned as he rolled onto his back. He pulled Alice on top of him.

“You’re going to be sore tomorrow.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Alice shrugged. “So are you.” She looked up at him. “Thanks. That was nice.”

“Nice?” Will scoffed, which made her laugh. “Is that all you’ve got?”

“No! What do you want, a thank you note?” Alice laughed, then kissed his chest again. “That was good. Really good.”

“Yeah, it was.” Will sighed. “Are you around all summer?”

“Yeah. Until Labor Day, when I have to go back to school. You?”

“Same.” He ran his fingers through her hair, which was still damp with rainwater. “We didn’t use a condom. I came inside you.”

Alice shrugged. “I’m on the pill. And the last time I had sex, which was disappointing by the way, it was months ago and we did use one. You?”

“Nothing since last summer. Last physical was a few weeks ago, and I’m fine.” He quirked an eyebrow. “I have to ask…”

“About the throat thing?” Alice shrugged. “It’s just a thing I like. Sometimes when I come, I feel like I’m going to literally fall apart, especially if I feel like I’m going to come hard. Somebody touching me, holding me down like that, it grounds me. Keeps me here.”

“Never thought about it that way before.”

“Also when you sat back and pulled me up, you were fucking me so hard I thought I might slide back across the bed. Hey!” Alice cried out when Will pinched her ass.

“So that’s a thing you like.”

“And cuddling.” She kissed his chest. “That appears to be something we both like.”

“I’m a gentleman that way.” He chuckled when she rolled her eyes at him. “And besides, you’re very warm. Though it’s still a little chilly in here.”

“There’s a blanket under the pillows.” Alice smiled as he reached for it, then flipped it over both of them.

“What are other things you like?”

“I like reading, and riding in trucks, and you.” She moved up to press a kiss to his jaw. “I like you.”

“I like you, too, Alice, Alice Elliot..” Will tightened his grasp around her, then shut his eyes. “I like you a lot.”

 

 


	2. "A lady, without a family"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice Elliot leaves behind the family estate to the Admiral and Mrs. Croft, new tenants with connections to an old love.

“A lady, without a family, was the very best preserver of furniture in the world.”  
Jane Austen, _Persuasion_

* * *

For the first time in 150 years, there would be no Elliots at Kellynch Manor.

It had been the largest and grandest house in the county for six generations. But after three generations of Elliots making poor business decisions, the encroachment of large corporations onto their territory, and unchecked spending by Walter Elliot himself could only result in the demise of The Elliot Paper Companies, the loss of Walter’s own personal fortune, and the shame of putting the family seat on the market.

Ever since Walter announced the closure of the Elliot Paper Mill, and that the remaining Elliots — along with himself there was his eldest daughter Elizabeth and middle daughter Alice — would be relocating to New York for good, the denizens of Hammersmith and neighboring Cranford talked of nothing else. The Elliots were among the founders of the town of Hammersmith. They had long been its wealthiest family. The mill had employed hundreds of people at its height. But the mill was no longer, and so the Elliots were taking their leave.

The Elliot family lawyer was on the verge of entertaining the few paltry offers he had received — for the house, grand as it was, proved expensive to run — when there arrived a generous proposal.

A retired admiral and his wife, the Crofts were flush with money made overseas. A native of nearby Cranford, the admiral wished to settle near family who still lived in the area. They had great hopes for the town of Hammersmith, as it came highly recommended by Mrs. Croft’s nephew.

The nephew had spent a summer there as a young man. It was he who saw the article in The New York Times, the one about the last great houses of New England, and learned that it was available. Remembering the estate’s beauty and location convenient to Hammersmith proper and the neighboring villages, his beloved aunt and uncle came to mind. He emailed his aunt, wondering if perhaps Kellynch Manor might be suitable for her and her husband.

It happened that it was.

* * *

“I really don’t think people in the village care whether or not one of us goes around saying goodbye to everybody.”

Alice Elliot, fresh out of the shower, left damp footprints as she paced around the kitchen at Kellynch Manor. It was her last morning there, and her last act as the de facto lady of the house was to host the Crofts for brunch before handing over the keys to the house. Matty the cook counted silverware and set out serving platters while listening in on the telephone conversation that Alice was having with her sister.

“Well, of course, they do!” The sound of Alice’s sister’s Elizabeth’s voice on the phone was tinny, high, and nasal. “They’re expecting a take-leave. It’s the Elliot way.”

Alice rolled her eyes at the superiority in her sister’s tone. “You know you sound like Daddy.”

“Well, it was his idea, and anyway he’s right.” Elizabeth made a clucking sound with her tongue. “If only you had gone ahead and marr—”

“No. “ Alice clenched her jaw. “Don’t say it. Not again.”

“Don’t say what? What was I going to say?” Elizabeth sounded coy.

“You know,” retorted Alice. “That if I had married Charles…” Her voice trailed off.

Alice hated to be reminded but yes, it was true. Charles Musgrove, the only son of old family friends, had proposed five years ago, just before the swift decline of her family’s fortunes. He was sweet, straightforward, and an upstanding citizen. Charles had been a good neighbor, and friend. But Alice didn’t love him.

This led to confusion among the Elliots — _Was there somebody else? If she didn’t love Charles then who did she love?_ — which was only resolved when Mary, the youngest of the three Elliot daughters, confessed to having had a crush on Charles all along. Their courtship was brief. In a matter of months, they were married.

So in love (or so she thought) and so eager to leave her father’s house was Mary that she failed to show the pre-nuptial agreement to her father before signing it. Mary was neither savvy nor persuasive enough to convince Charles to loan her father money as a condition of betrothal. He had read the newspapers. He had seen the people laid off from the mill. He had no love for the way Walter had lived. Mary may have been his wife, but she was now a Musgrove, and was obligated to leave the spendthrift Elliot way behind.

Alice came to a stop, leaning against the kitchen counter where Matty had begun to arrange the food. She peered at a basket of blueberry muffins, then shook her head. “Liz, I should get going. The Crofts are coming to brunch…”

“Ugh.” Elizabeth’s disgust was plain. “It’s not like you have to _welcome_ them.”

“They may have questions, Liz.” Alice moved to the battered kitchen table and took a seat. “The realtor took them through once but…”

“That’s what the lawyer is for, Alice. Let _him_ answer the questions.” Elizabeth sniffed. “You’re expected at Mary’s tonight. Don’t spend any more time with them than you have to.”

“You talk as if they’re pariahs or something.”

“The admiral is just some old guy who grew up in _Cranford_ ,” hissed Elizabeth.

“Well, his wife is from Newport. An old family.” Alice shrugged.

“They’re new money, Alice Clover.”

“At least they have money, Elizabeth Rose,” said Alice, her tone sharp.

“Yeah,” conceded Elizabeth with a sigh. “Don’t they just.”

“Anyway, I think…”

Before Alice could finish her thought, the sound of the doorbell rang through the empty house. Matty set down the fork she had been polishing, and looked questioningly at Alice.

“Liz, they’re here.” Alice looked up at Matty. “I’ll get the door.”

“Okay. Remember,” Elizabeth cautioned. “It’s still our home.”

“I know it,” said Alice. “I’ll text when I get to Mary’s tonight.”

“Got it. Tell me if the admiral looks all leathery and tanned after all his years at sea.”

“Bitch!” Alice smirked.

“Old maid!” Elizabeth crowed.

Alice clicked off, slipped the phone into her pocket, and found her shoes by the kitchen door. She took a look at the kitchen behind her, and then forward at the long dark corridor that lead to the entrance hall that lead to the front door that opened onto the large circular driveway where at the moment Kellynch Manor’s new master and mistress stood in awe of their new home.

* * *

The thing of it was, was that the Admiral and Sophie Croft were nice. Delightful, in fact, thoroughly charming and attractive. The Admiral was tall, barrel chested, with fluffy white hair and bright blue eyes. Dressed conservatively in a navy blue jacket and khaki trousers, pale pink shirt and careworn leather moccasins, he was boyish and energetic. Sophie was also tall, but slender. Her strawberry blonde hair was curly, tendrils escaping from the loose knot on top of her head. Her features were sharp and feline, high cheekbones that contrasted the Admiral’s round pink cheeks. She was languid to the point of sloth, but her smile was bright. She wore a dress that was soft and shapeless, and it draped around her generous bosom and wide hips in that magic way that only very expensive clothing could do. Her large, dark brown eyes took in everything, twinkling whenever she caught sight of her husband’s laughing face.

Alice had tried to resist them, in a vain attempt to be loyal to her family and their sense of entitlement. But the Crofts left her no choice. As soon as they stepped over the threshold, friendly and so open, Alice felt immediately warm in their presence. And as the morning went on, she felt her affection for them deepen.

It was the little things. How the Admiral correctly identified the various types of exotic woods used in banisters and balustrades throughout the house. Sophie exclaimed over the murals painted in the sitting room, and endeared herself to Matty by praising the herb garden and eating every bite of the spinach quiche and fruit tart before begging for the recipes.

“Oh you must come back, once we’ve unpacked and settled. We’ll have a meal, and then you can tell me every little thing I did wrong or right.” Sophie looked at the two sets of keys that Alice had just deposited in her outstretched hand, then back up at Alice. “I do so want to do justice to this house.”

“Mrs. Croft, please. It’s your home now,” said Alice sincerely.

“Please, call me Sophie.” The older woman grinned. “Mrs. Croft is my mother-in-law.”

Alice tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ears. “I couldn’t impose…”

“Impossible!” The Admiral was insistent. “It would be no imposition. We know this house has a history, and we intend to honor it.”

“Coming from a decorated admiral of the Navy, that means a lot.” Alice looked around the hall one last time, nodded at her suitcase standing next to the door, and sighed. “I’ll leave you to it, then. And thanks for keeping Matty and the grounds staff on. It saved me trying to find places elsewhere.”

The Crofts followed Alice out to the driveway, the admiral hoisting her suitcase in the back of her ancient Range Rover. Just as she was about to say goodbye, Alice noticed the hint of a curious smile on Sophie’s face as the older woman caught sight of something.

“Alice? What’s that?”

Alice turned, following Sophie’s gaze to a cottage that was west of the house, tucked away behind a white oak tree that leaned out of the ground. Alice took a breath.

“The caretaker’s cottage.” She continued when Sophie raised her eyebrows in interest. “But he never used it. I slept there sometimes, summers when I was a teenager.”

“Love, how did we miss this?” Sophie squeezed the Admiral’s arm.

The Admiral chuckled. “We just toured the big house on our first visit, and it was in the evening. We were in something of a rush, I'm afraid.” He smiled at Alice. “You were in the city with your father and sister, I think.”

“That’s right,” agreed Alice. “We only had pictures of the manor house in the listing. Nobody’s used the cottage since…” She faltered slightly. “Not for nine now. It may not be in the best of shape.”

“Show it to me?” Sophie’s smile was tentative this time. “I’d like to see it, even if we can’t use it.”

“Well, I’m sure Matty would be happy to…” Alice stammered, then shook her head when she saw a disappointed frown on Sophie’s face. “Right this way.”

The two of them — the Admiral, having decided to return to the kitchen for some iced tea, did not join them — trudged through what was left of the vegetable garden her mother had planted. The cottage windows were dusty, and the doorknob may have been dull, but the front door opened easily. Inside the air was still, and the furniture covered with heavy canvas tarpaulins crowded the room, making it feel small.

While the surfaces and windows were covered in dust and cobwebs, everything appeared to be in working order, from the lights to the water. When Alice turned on the air conditioner, the window unit sputtered, blowing more dust onto the floor but soon enough they could feel cool air around their ankles.

Sophie admired the wide floorboards, and oohed at the skylight. After trying the ladder, Sophie climbed up to the sleeping loft to get a closer look. When Alice followed her up, Sophie looked apologetic.

“I’m sorry, I wanted to see what was underneath this, too.”

She dropped the tarpaulin in her hand, then gestured at the large bed, still heavy and still wide with the ornamental headboard that Alice remembered too well.

“Pomegranates. Wheat.” Sophie mused. “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. I guess carving the Book of Genesis verbatim would be a bit obvious, huh?”

“I… I guess,” stammered Alice. “Do you and the Admiral have children?”

“No,” admitted Sophie. “Just my late brother’s boy. We’ve come to think of him as a son, the Admiral and I. Will.”

And there it was. Will’s name. Heard for the first time in a long time. Spoken by another, plainly and casually. Not fiercely and desperately to herself in the dark, her fingers fumbling at the paths and ways of her body that had previously been explored by him and his gifted hands. The name hung in the air, for a second too long, unanswered as Alice felt it wash over her.

“Alice?” Sophie’s brow furrowed with concern. “Did you know him? I think you and Will are about the same age.”

Alice nodded. “Yes. I ran into him. When he and his friend Jamie were working next door for the Russells. Mrs. Russell is my godmother…”

“Of course, of course.” Sophie seemed satisfied. “He only mentioned it in passing — we really didn’t become well acquainted until his father, my brother, passed away a few years ago. And I thought he meant your elder sister.”

“No, it was me.” Alice sounded vague, still.

“And do you remember him? What was 19 year old William Buxton like?”

Alice looked down at the bed, blinking her eyes against the memories. Crisp striped sheets, an old quilt, and the two of them, naked and moving against each other. His hands holding her down, holding her close. Like he owned her. Like she belonged to him.

“Will was…” Alice bit her bottom lip. “Handsome.” She smiled shyly.

Sophie laughed, then moved to the ladder to climb back down. Alice followed.

“Yes, he was handsome.” Alice showed Sophie back to the door. “Handsome, and quite determined.”

* * *

“There you are.”

Mary Laurel Elliot-Musgrove didn’t lift a finger to help her sister, so Alice struggled to get her bag out of the car, hauling it and herself up to Mary’s door. It was there that Mary tutted at the water that Alice, having driven through heavy rain, brought into her home. She closed the door behind them and got a good look at Alice.

Mary handed Alice an old but clean beach towel, plucked from a wicker basket under the coat hooks. “Is that one of Mom’s old dresses?”

Alice nodded. “Yeah. Most of my clothes are in storage in the city. I grabbed a few things as I was packing up.”

“Impractical choice for this weather,” said Mary.

“Well, it was beautiful this morning. Then the Crofts came, I showed them around…?”

“The Crofts?” Mary’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, that’s today. Did they come with a contractor and a truck to haul away all of the heirlooms?”

Alice didn’t get a chance to reply, as Mary moved down a narrow hallway to the family room at the back of the house. When Alice joined her there, she saw that the fireplace was lit, and a covered tray set for her on the coffee table. Mary held out a hand, waiting for Alice to remove her wet dress which she then hung up from a line strung in the mudroom where the laundry was done. When Mary returned, she found Alice still wrapped in the towel, staring into the fire as she tucked into the chicken pot pie from the tray. She smiled, just a little.

Where Alice was tall and curvy, with silky hair that fell sleekly around her shoulders, Mary was short and skinny. Her face was sharp, with eyes perpetually narrowed as if in interrogation of everyone she had ever met. She had never outgrown the awkward coltishness of her youth, all elbows and knees was Mary. Her hair was curly and fine, growing out instead of down, which sometimes gave Alice the impression that her sister was a high-strung poodle.

“Anyway,” said Alice, “They were awfully nice. The Admiral may have grown up poor in Cranford, but he looks like your typical Hammersmith billionaire. Old White dude, Brooks brothers. Like Daddy before…” She gulped. “Like Daddy before.”

Mary nodded. “And the wife?”

“Tall, strawberry blonde. Brown eyes. Her dress was kind of hippyish but it looked expensive.”

“And who was it who found the house for them?” Mary frowned. “The grandson?”

“Nephew,” said Alice.

“Who was that again?”

“Buxton. Will Buxton.”

Mary’s mouth opened. “ _The_ Will Buxton?”

Alice took a moment to smirk at Mary before gently closing her sister’s mouth. “Yes.”

“The guy behind the guy behind the guys at Facebook? The dude who basically irrigated the poorest parts of Africa? Invented some chip that’s in every smartphone on the planet?” Mary leaned in. “The guy Taylor Swift wanted to marry?”

Alice sighed, then looked into the fire. “Yeah.” She sighed again. “Him.”

* * *

_When it rained like this in Cranford, for days at a time, city people up for the season shut themselves up in their summer rentals, dashing out on occasion to the village shops for extra supplies, all the while complaining that their deposits for paddleboard yoga classes and jam making workshops were lost. Mothers dressed their children in slickers and rain boots so they could wade to nearby creeks and search for tadpoles. When thunder and lightning returned in the afternoons and evenings, all the old dogs howled from underneath their masters’ beds._

_The cottage at Kellynch was well stocked. Even when the weather was fine, Alice liked to spend days there by herself so she kept the kitchen cupboards full of the few things she liked to eat. Old books from childhood and school lined the bookshelves, and in the bathroom was an assortment of her mother’s castoff creams and cleansers, bubbles and serums, purchased at duty-free shops all over the Caribbean. Her wardrobe consisted of a couple of bathing suits, some old gym shorts, and faded t-shirts._

_When the storms would come, Alice stayed in and read. Sometimes she’d stare out the window, or paint her nails. Take long baths while smoking a joint stolen from her sister Elizabeth’s room. Solitary pursuits for a solitary person._

_But now there was a guest, and this guest needed to be entertained._

_“You know, you can actually eat those. The cores I mean.”_

_Will Buxton stood naked in the doorway between the bathroom and the sitting room, looking at Alice as she nibbled an apple down to its core._

_“I thought you were taking a shower.” Alice frowned._

_“Who can shower when there are naked girls eating apples to ogle?”_

_Alice’s lips quirked up into a grin. “Is that a serious question?”_

_Will nodded. “You’re a serious girl.”_

_He crossed the room, moving between shadows as the rain continued to pour outside. It wasn’t even seven in the evening, but the skies had been black for hours. Alice watched Will’s face as he leaned into her, squinting at the hollow of her throat. She tilted her head to the side for him while he examined her jaw, brushed his fingertips down her neck to her shoulder._

_“You have bruises,” said Will quietly. “I hurt you.”_

_Alice shook her head. “You didn’t.”_

_“I should have been easier with you…” insisted Will._

_Alice interrupted. “I’m fine. It’s just…” She showed him the apple core. “I bruise easily. Just like this apple. See?” She laughed when Will lunged at it, biting the core before it fell in two halves to the floor._

_Will looked at her skin again, now close enough that he could see where small dots of juice had fallen while she ate. There was juice on her chin and her lips, and he tasted it when he kissed her. He grabbed her around the hips, moaning as he licked just inside her mouth, and began to steer her back towards the loft._

_Feeling his body against hers, she realized how cold she was. He wasn’t any warmer, but he could bring her into him. Pull and push as he chose, it was like dancing but the rhythms were strange and irregular. He kissed her slowly even as his hands grabbed harder, faster. Alice tried to go backwards up the ladder, but her feet slipped and then she was laughing._

_Even in the face of Will’s desire, which made him nip harder and growl deeper, Alice couldn’t believe it. Who was this creature, angelic with his golden curls and soft blue eyes and tanned skin the color of honey. Narrow hips and a flat chest, a small bottom that she could almost completely cup in her own hands. But he was long limbed, so his hands were everywhere and then he was kicking her legs apart. He used his body to pin her, just for a moment, and then Will went down on his knees._

_Alice’s head fell forward, her eyes heavy but open as they watched him. Watched Will lift her left leg over his right shoulder. Saw him lean in, eyes still pointing heavenward, then flatten and press his long, slick tongue against her clit. When she whimpered, he began to lap at her. The tip of his tongue swirled and fluttered over that tender nub, even while he closed his lips around it and sucked. Alice sobbed, from relief or from sheer pleasure, she wasn’t sure, and that was when she felt his fingers brush against her slit. Will closed his eyes, sucked gently, and pumped his fingers inside her._

_It was a surprise to them both when he found the spot inside so quickly. Will had to pull away, his lips and chin still wet with her, and help Alice when her knees buckled. She was crying now, tears that Will could taste when he stood up and kissed her face. But her mouth was soft, and she gave little hiccuping laughs that touched Will. When he kissed her, she spoke to him in sighs and whispers._

_“I can taste myself… I taste sweet. Who knew I tasted so good?”_

_Will lifted his head, for he had been sucking on her neck and looked at her face. A good look, close enough that even in the dim, just under the skylight and the stormy gloom, he could make out the miniscule threads of gold in the middle of her dark eyes. For a moment, Will felt just a little lost._

_“Will?” Her voice startled him, brought him out of her eyes and back into the cottage where they leaned against each other, sloppy and sweaty. His fingers were still slick with her essence, he could feel the air cooling them, and he wanted to taste her again. But before he could return to his knees, Alice went up on her toes and kissed him. Then she fell to her knees, grasped the shaft of his cock in her two hands, and began to suck on the head._

_He held onto the ladder, bracing himself as Alice swept his tongue over the tip. Her rosebud lips, seemingly so delicate, closed over him as she began to take him further into her mouth. Will’s hands found their way to her hear, fingers combing the silken strands. A fond, delicate gesture especially when compared to the voracity with which Alice began to suck. Opening her mouth wider, she gagged so slightly when his hips bucked. And goddammit if it wasn’t the hottest, filthiest thing he’d seen. Her eyes were wide as she swallowed more, and when he pulled away, ever so slightly, she would lean forward and take him in._

_Until he cupped her face gently, holding her still as he pulled out. When she got up, helped to her feet by him, Alice gazed at his cock, which stood upright and hard against his own abdomen. She licked her lips, then turned away. It took Will no time at all to grab her around the waist, kick her legs apart and shove his cock between them. Not yet inside, he simply pumped forward and backwards, right against her sex. She was so wet, and he was so aroused he sobbed when he felt the tip of his cock brush her clit. Will brought a hand down over the front of her left thigh, opening her legs slightly just as Alice moved her hips and then he was pushing inside her._

_Alice gasped as he filled her up, found her clit with his right hand and held her close around the waist with his left. He was big enough and strong enough that fucking her meant moving her, mingling their sweat and his cum with her juices and the bite of his teeth on the back of her neck was met with her nails digging so hard into his hip that the crescent shaped marks lasted for hours. Inside she was hot and wet and a perfect fit, and when he snapped his hips she more than writhed for him she danced.  He could pinch her clit, and she’d shriek with delight. Squeeze her breasts, roll taut nipples between fingertips that had been made rough by a summer of manual labor, and she babbled in delight._

_But then all Will could do was hold on, grab her hard around the hips while his cock took over. Will grit his teeth and chased that feeling, Her hot skin under his hands, his name spilling from her lips, and how wet and ready she was for him. She pushed against him, a single “yes” turning into a string of them, infinite and endless encouragement. Outside the rain was relentless and so was he, pounding and driving and then he felt her grab at him. Alice stiffened then grabbed for him, pulling his arms around her so when she came he felt it all over. An irresistible pulse and then he felt free to release, coming inside her even as she was beginning to relax out of her own peak._

_When Will felt his body relax, he pulled Alice in closer. The air around him was cold but the heat between them was present. He didn’t know what to say when she freed herself and stood away from him, hunched over slightly and seemingly so small. Before he could ask if she was alright, Alice turned around and slipped her arms around him. She paused when her hands rested on his hips._

_“I think I nicked you,” she said, peering at his body. “Did I draw blood?”_

_Will shook his head. “No. You did not?’_

_“Sure?” Alice kissed his chest._

_“Yeah,” replied Will. “But why don’t I let you clean me up in that big tub of yours, just to be sure?”_

* * *

The evening rainstorm that escorted Alice on her drive from Kellynch to her sister’s house was gone by the time Alice woke up the next morning. Mary had put her up in the old nursery and while it had been years since Walter and Little Charles had slept there, the walls still featured baby pictures. The single bed upon which Alice slept was made up with animal print sheets. The ceiling was low enough for little ones, but Alice didn’t mind so much when she bumped her head a few times getting out of bed. The room was the quietest, and she cherished the solitude. Soon enough she’d be back in the kitchen, among the noise and chaos of Charles and Mary and their brood and the rest of the Musgroves.

Alice took her time in the bathroom, washing her face with Mary’s expensive organic soaps. She tasted blood orange when she helped herself to a pearl sized blob of imported Italian toothpaste. As she brushed her teeth, Alice studied her face in the mirror. She recognized her mother’s dark eyes and high cheekbones, her father’s freckles and long neck. Her mixed parentage melted and muted, so her eyes were round but still tilted. A prominent, patrician nose, and a firm jaw. But her hair was pure black, slippery and shining in the early morning light.

That same light revealed no lines around the eyes, just a little color in her forehead and cheeks from a little too much sun and not enough sunblock. Before heading downstairs, Alice dug around in Mary’s makeup for a pencil to fill in her eyebrows, and a small pot of gloss to redden her lips. She looked better than she felt, which was just a little tired. She hadn’t slept well, and could have done with a few more minutes or hours just to lie in bed and come to understand that her home was no longer. For the next few weeks, while her father and Elizabeth got the Manhattan townhouse ready, Alice would be at her sister Mary’s disposal. Throwing a gray hooded sweatshirt over her nightgown, she went off in search of breakfast.

“Aunt Alice! Aunty! You’re here! You’re here!” Walter and Little Charles, faces sticky with butter and jam, flung themselves at Alice as soon as she appeared in the kitchen. “Are you gonna come? Mawm, can she come too?”

“Can I…?” Alice laughed. When she made her way to an empty chair at the breakfast table, Walter and Little Charles ran off. It was then that she noticed they were dressed in long-sleeved shirts, pants, and their hiking boots. “What’s going on?”

Mary came out of the mudroom wearing a pristine windbreaker, stiff nylon pants, and wellies. She clapped her eyes in excitement. “Charles was out walking this morning and you’ll never guess who he ran into! Just hiking along. He’d heard about the trails from family who live in Cranford. But they won’t be ready to receive him properly until the afternoon so he when he met Charles they got to talking and then…” Mary’s eyes popped out as she caught sight of someone or something behind Alice. “And here they are!”

Alice got up and turned, just in time to see Hannah and Louise, Charles’s younger sisters, come into the kitchen. Giggling madly, they could only wave at Alice between furtive whispers in each other’s ears. Their cheeks were unnaturally pink, bright green eyes flashing while the eyes of their brother, who followed them in, were gray and steady. When he caught sight of Alice, he grimaced slightly.

“Sorry, Alice, if I had known you were still in your dressing gown… I wouldn’t have…” Charles stammered as another man followed into the room.

The man was tall but lean, seeming to take over the room by simply stepping into it. He wore a slim blue sweater tucked into cargo pants, and his boots looked broken in and expensive. His dark blond hair was short, cut with military precision, appropriate considering his excellent posture. He smiled warmly, eyes crinkling as he met Mary’s gaze. The smile gave way to a chuckle (“Eheheheheheheh”) when he glanced at Hannah and Louise.

But when he saw Alice, his mouth stilled. The bright blue eyes dimmed. His jaw stiffened. Not that anybody noticed. Nobody, really, except Alice.

She saw nothing else. Nothing or nobody. Just him, six feet away. The most beautiful boy she had ever seen who was now the most handsome man she had ever met.

“Mary…?” Charles’s voice broke a little, but it was enough to prompt his wife into action.’

“Of course! The pleasure’s all mine.” Mary approached, but didn’t quite offer her hand to the guest. “Please excuse the mess. When Charles called from his parents, I thought we’d come and meet you at theirs.”

The man looked apologetic. “Fault is all mine. Your husband said he had a rifle he wanted to show me.”

“Ah!” Charles remembered. “I’ll get it now.”

When Charles left, Alice wanted to run after him. Run away, run out of the house. But she was stuck in place, digging her nails into the back of the kitchen chair, feet cold and stiff, and all she could do was stand there. Be looked at, and find the courage to look back.

“Mr. Buxton. Or can I call you Will?” Mary laughed at her lame attempt at a joke. “I believe you already know my sister, Alice.”

Will didn’t move, simply watched as Alice released her hands from the chair, tuck a lock of hair behind her ears, then walk forward and offer her hand.

“Yes. Of course. Miss Elliot.” Will didn’t take her hand so much as sort of brush it from underneath, not even cupping it before he let his arm drop down to his side. “Alice.”

When he said her name, Alice thought she might faint. But having gotten close to him, close enough to smell his skin and see the cold look in his eyes when they met hers, she wanted simply to disappear. Alas, she was not so lucky. Instead, she rubbed her hand against her thigh.

“Yes, of course. I remember.” She swallowed, grateful when this action seemed to hold back her tears. “Will.”


	3. "a foolish match"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice is an unwilling witness to the romance that appears to be blossoming between her sister Mary's young sister-in-law, Louise, and her old love Will Buxton.

_But herein mean I to enrich my pain,_  
To have his sight thither and back again.  
William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I.i.261-262

* * *

What a marvelous coincidence it was that Will Buxton should happen to be hiking in the countryside near the Musgroves’ farm on the very first day of Alice’s visit. This was remarked upon several times by each of the Musgroves as they gathered themselves and took Will on a tour of their farm.

The Musgroves owned a couple of upscale organic markets in the area, and had recently begun to talk of expansion. Maybe a store in Boston or Newport, bigger cities with customers that had deeper wallets. They had begun to think about taking out loans, maybe a second mortgage on the farm to fund it.

And then a handsome, single billionaire turned up practically on Marjorie’s front door. If that wasn’t providence, then she didn’t know what it was. A handsome single billionaire nodding and listening patiently, and then Marjorie realized: why the hell was she talking heritage turkeys and the wholesale price of goats milk cheese when she had two daughters to marry off?

Sure, Hannah had only turned 19, and Louise was 21, but Marjorie had been a young bride herself. It was her opinion that people ought to marry and produce children as soon as possible. What was the phrase again, the one from the book she kept meaning to read but never did? She had last seen it needlepointed on a pillow in a gift shop in town: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

Marjorie couldn’t have said it better herself.

“So you’re familiar with the area then?” Marjorie’s green eyes were sharp and probing when she looked at him.

Will nodded. “Yes, I spent a summer here as a young man. A friend from college, Jamie Benwick, and I did chores and general yard work for the Russells.”

“Is that right?” Marjorie glanced back at Mary who was still complaining to Alice about her various ailments. “Did you say you knew Mary?”

“No, she was away that summer,” said Will apologetically. “It was Alice that I met.”

“So you really know Alice?” Louise broke in, joining her mother and Will. Her pink cheeks and honey colored hair glowed in the early light.

Louise looked good, and she knew it. She was pretty and lively. She was always laughing, or excitedly talking about anything. Sports. The weather. The muffins at the Cranford General Store. Everybody liked Louise, a fact she exploited when it suited her.

“Just a few times.” Will lied easily. “Just, you know, around the village. Near the pond. And of course the Russells have that party.”

Marjorie nodded. “The Midsummer Night’s Dream fundraiser.”

“Have you been?” Will asked. “I only went once, but I remember it being…”

“Crazy?” Louise grinned impishly. “You never saw so much lobster, and all the wine! Acrobats from Russia, and the acting troupe from England because who else would perform Pyramus and Thisbe? Everybody in costume. We never rated an invite, not until Charles and Mary got married.”

“Five years ago.” Marjorie sighed. “They will have been married five years in the fall.”

“Of course, we all wished Charles had married Alice…” Louise smirked, but she winced when her mother pinched her ear. “Ow!”

Neither of them had noticed Will’s face, how his complexion was all of a sudden ashen and pale. “Charles? Marry Alice?”

Despite the reproach from her mother, Louise went on. “Oh, yes. Well, you know Alice is so sweet. Their mother was dying and…”

“Oh.” Will glanced away. “I didn’t know.”

“It was madness,” said Marjorie as she wiped away a tear. “Brain tumor. They found it too late. Business at the mill had already begun to slow down, and—” She stopped herself. “Anyway, Walter and the girls. They were besides themselves. They tried to make her last few months good.”

“When Charles proposed, we were all so surprised,” explained Louise. “We didn’t know he felt that way.”

“He must have been trying to save them, in his own small way.” Marjorie sounded earnest. “All my children come into their money, collect the first third of their trusts, when they marry. It wasn’t much, but it might have helped with the mill for a time.”

“But Alice…” Louise shook her head. “She turned him down.”

“Oh how upset Alice’s father was! I think her mother was in a coma by then, so Mrs. Russell was there for the girls, trying to help.” Marjorie simpered. “They were so lucky to have her to guide them through such trying times.”

“Yes, I do, erm, remember her _helpfulness_ in personal matters.” If the Musgrove women detected an iciness in Will’s tone, they certainly did not mention it.

“Well, it’s no use now.” Marjorie declared. “Charles was broken-hearted for a time, but then there was little Mary, right out of Cornell, to mend his broken heart.”

“They were married that October, just before Mrs. Elliot passed away.” Louise grinned. “And just six months later Little Charles was born.”

“Louise!” Marjorie pinched her daughter again. When Little Charles ran up to join them, she stopped to pick up her grandson. “Oof! Little Charles, you are a mess!”

“That’s what mumma says,” replied the boy, crumbs falling out of his mouth as he spoke.

While Marjorie fussed over the boy, Louise saw her chance and moved closer, taking her mother’s place at Will’s side.

Alice didn’t miss this. Neither did Mary, taking Alice’s arm for support as they brought up the back of the group.

“You know, he wasn’t very gallant towards you,” said Mary. “Will, I mean.”

Alice inhaled sharply, then slowly breathed out as she formed her reply. “What do you mean? He seemed pleasant enough this morning. Cordial, for sure, when we met.”

“It was after.” Mary sounded irritable. She nodded at her sister-in-law, Hannah. “When you went upstairs to change --- honestly, Alice did you have to come right to breakfast in your nightgown? — Hannah asked him if he recognized you after all this time.”

“And did he?” Alice kept her eyes on Will and Louise, who wasn’t holding his hand but brushing up against his arm so much Alice thought the friction might produce a spark.

“He said you were so changed, that he wouldn’t have recognized you unless I’d been there to tell him it was you.”

Alice decided to ignore the inexplicably smug tone of Mary’s voice, and said nothing.

“Which is so odd, you know?” Mary looked close at Alice’s face. “Out of all of us girls, I’d say you’d changed the least.” She sniffed. “You still wear the same jeans and t-shirts from college. High school, even!”

“I’m just glad I fit into them,” retorted Alice.

“Well, you always were a bit bigger than me,” Mary sighed.

“I am taller,” Alice reminded her sister.

“And you got the good boobs,” Mary cackled. “Mom’s boobs!”

Alice glanced up at the sky. “Dear Mom, thanks for the nice tits. Your loving daughter, Alice Clover Elliot.”

Mary slapped her arm goodnaturedly, and when her giggles turned to full-blown laughter, Alice couldn’t help but join her. She needed to let go of the tension in her body, in her _bones_ . Leaving Kellynch behind, insinuating herself into Mary and Charles’s chaotic household. And Will. The return of her first love. Her only love. Her love who was now letting Louise Musgrove talk circles around him. Louise who was young and perfect and _there_.

There was the tension again, a weight that hung behind her heart and slowed her steps. Made them heavy, and the last thing Alice saw before she fainted was Will, his eyes so clear and so blue and yet so unknowable to her still, looking back at the sound of her voice just as her laughter faded to silence.

It wasn’t Will but Charles who held her head up, revived her with careful sips of water from his water bottle. It wasn’t Will but Marjorie who cried “Give her some air! Let her breathe! Unzip that jacket!” It wasn’t Will but Mary she heard first, fretful while she explained to her sons that Aunt Alice hadn’t had her breakfast and why didn’t the three of them take Alice back to the house while the rest continued the walk.

But it was Will who leaned down, took her hand, waited until she had curled her fingers down into his fist, and slowly, carefully, pulled her up to her feet. Will who gave her face a cursory glance, looked up, and squinted at a car approaching the group of them standing in the road. And then he let go.

“Well hello there!” The Admiral leaned out of the driver’s side window and waved. “You must be the Musgroves! We were just coming to see you.”

Sophie popped out of the other side, strode over to Will and hugged him. “Hello, dear nephew. I know we said we wouldn’t be ready for you at Kellynch but the movers were early with our things.”

“And Matty is supervising them,” said the Admiral. “We’re here to invite you to supper tonight at Kellynch.”

“Oh, but that’s for us to do!” Marjorie exclaimed. “It is us who are to welcome you! We’re practically family.”

“Oh?” Sophie cast about the room, finally landing on Alice before her. “Of course! We are all of us connected through Alice.”

“And me!” Mary piped up, offering a limp hand to Sophie. “Mary Elliot-Musgrove. How do you do.”

“So, dinner tonight at our farmhouse?” Marjorie was determined.

Sophie accepted the invitation, graciously. “Well, George and I were going for a little drive, get the lay of the land. Can we give anybody a ride back?”

The Musgroves declined. Alice watched Will as he turned his head to his aunt’s ear, and saw Sophie lean in to listen. She was startled when Sophie took her hand.

“Alice, why don’t you come with us? I understand you had a bit of a spell. We’ll take you home.”

Before Alice could protest — it was just a little faint, a moment of weakness, and she just needed more water and more air and less Louise looking at Will like the cat that was about to get the cream — the Musgroves agreed loudly. And so she followed Sophie to the car while the others began to walk again.

Except for Will, who followed her. Not touching, of course, but close enough to catch her if she fell again. It was quite a step into the back of the Admiral’s old Jeep, but Alice just about managed it. With the help of Will’s hands, deft and sure, as they held her at the waist, squeezed and lifted her up.

Alice needed a moment to herself, to relish the feeling, the fact that he had touched her. Will had held her. It occurred to her to thank him. But by then he was already gone.

* * *

_Nothing could ruin Will’s mood._

_The last six weeks were some of the best of his life. Sure, his days were spent doing exhausting manual labor in the hot sun for a thankless woman who looked down her nose at him. A surprising feat, considering at 6’2” he towered over her. But the job had been arranged by his father with the woman’s husband, an important man whose association meant something to other important men whose ranks Will’s father wanted to join._

_Will neither thought nor cared about these men, who were nothing more than abstractions. His father cared about them. Will only cared about Alice._

_Will loved her. And she loved him._

_Six weeks was nothing, or so he thought. Six weeks ago he and Jamie were just bouncing along in Jamie’s pickup, heading to town to get sodas and snacks for their lunch. Six weeks ago he pulled into a spot in front of the general store, looked up from the wheel, and saw Alice standing there. Tall for a girl, a faded shirt and old cutoffs that rode high on her thighs. That bottle of water, Will thought he could feel the cold when she tilted her head and pressed it to the side of her neck. When Jamie went inside the store, Will stayed in. Watching her fidget, holding a hand over her eyes, cutting the glare as she searched for someone or something who never came. Not for him. She didn’t see him. And then Jamie was back, he was talking to the girl, and now the girl was following Jamie to the truck, laughing as he clambered into the back, and then she was climbing up into the seat next to his. She looked up at him, looked into Will’s eyes._

_That was it. He was gone._

_From there it was just a matter of time, minutes, hours, before they were in the water, lying on the dock, him imagining what she looked like naked. What would it feel like to have her lying beneath him. There was rain and there was running, shelter and then he found himself kneeling before her, leaning in to press a soft kiss between her thighs. Licking up slowly, finding the heat and the wet with his tongue. She took him into her bed, told him to wrap his hand so carefully around her throat, and fuck her._

_That was lust._

_Then what was love?_

_Everything that came after. Not immediately but quickly. Soon enough. She was almost business-like in the way she made him fall in love with her._

_“I have no time for wooing,” Alice had said one day as they were walking back from the pond._

_“What?” He was drowsy from the heat, though they’d just gone skinny-dipping. It was so hot they were dry almost by the time they’d gotten back into their clothes._

_Alice squeezed his hand. “Dad invited another guy over for lunch with Liz.”_

_Will paused. “Wait. Was he there for you or for her?”_

_“Her, of course,” Alice said. “But she left in the middle of it, claiming she had a headache. So you know what my dad said?”_

_Will hadn’t yet met Alice’s father and, from what he had heard about him from Alice, wasn’t sure that he wanted to. “He told the guy to fuck off?”_

_“Oh!” Alice pulled him in for a kiss. “I love that you said that…”_

Love?, _Will thought to himself._

_“No, he turns to the guy and says, “So Elizabeth may not be available but perhaps you’d like to take out my daughter Alice?”_

_“No!” Will’ laughed. “What happened next?”_

_“I…” Alice sighed. “I wish I could say that I stood up, threw my salad at the both of them, then stomped over here. But I didn’t.”_

_“What did you do?”_

_“I laughed it off, of course.”_

_“But it wasn’t funny,” retorted Will._

_“It really wasn’t but I couldn’t take it seriously.”_

_“Who was the guy?” Will whispered._

_“What does it matter?”_

_“I just wonder what kind of guy your dad thinks would be best for you.”_

_“Why?”_

_Will looked away, a smile on his face. “No reason.”_

_“Oh?” Alice arched an eyebrow. “Okay. Senior at Johns Hopkins. Grew up in the city but spends summers here with his grandparents. He’s an only child, an only grandchild.”_

_“So far, so good,” said Will._

_Alice snorted. “Swim team, tutors kids at an inner city school, 3.9 GPA. Speaks German fluently.”_

_“These are not bad things, Alice.”_

_“He’s 6’4”, brown hair, green eyes.”_

_“Sounds like a catch.”_

_“Then you go ahead and marry him, Will. I’m sure you’ll make a lovely couple.”_

_But you still haven’t told me why…” Will started._

_“He had soft hands,” said Alice, abruptly._

_Will nodded, not quite understanding. “Okay.”_

_“Soft hands, smooth shave. He had answers for everything. He had it all figured it out.”_

_“Confident?” Will asked._

_“Smug. Secure. Like there was a plan, a course of action, and if my sister didn’t want him, and if I didn’t, then surely there’s another girl out there who would be happy to take their rightful place by his side.”_

_“What does this have to do with his hands?”_

_Alice bit her lip. “It’s just… he shook my hand, and it felt soft. Baby skin, practically.”_

_“All that time in the pool, I’d reckon.”_

_“And yours are rough,” Alice said, quietly._

_They were now standing underneath one of the white oaks scattered throughout estate. A few yards away from the cottage, the safety and privacy of Alice’s big bed. But he had to… Will crowded Alice in, pushing her against the trunk. She held on, grasping feebly at the bark, seeking purchase._

_“Yeah, they are,” he murmured._

_“Your hands are rough, and I like the way they feel. It’s like this little shock. I can’t explain. You use your hands to do things — to bale hay, cut fence posts, and clear brush. To drive, to swim, to climb up. To do things to me, and…” She faltered, getting distracted by the feeling of those same hands as they fumbled underneath her skirt._

_“What else?” Will groaned. He nudged her legs apart with one of his own, holding them in place so he could begin to finger her clit. Lips now on her neck, the tender skin hot and salty, he licked between nips from his teeth._

_Will moved against her, rubbing against her bare leg, as her skirt was bunched up on her hip. She could feel him, big and hard, through the worn fabric of his shorts. The friction tugged at her dress, a slip of a thing with thin straps that fell easily down her shoulders. With her breasts exposed, Will moved down, continuing to finger her while he took a breast into his mouth and sucked. Focusing on the task at hand, he closed his eyes._

_When he curled his fingers inside her, Alice’s hips bucked hard. She grabbed at him, tugging on his curls, desperate to hold onto something that might keep her from dissolving. She couldn’t stop him. As if she really wanted him to._

_It would have been a crime to keep fingers as long and supple and talented as his away from her clit. It would have been a shame if he’d never gotten to kiss her mouth, suck on the her bottom lip, or tease at her taut nipples with his clever tongue. Never mind the sin of denying him the pleasure of fucking her with his cock, so hard and big, stretching her just so with every thrust, for now he had pulled her to the ground. Soft grass, dappled in the sunlight that kept them concealed. Ripped her knickers off and shoved her skirt up, then quickly undid the fly of his shorts._

_Kneeling there, watching her squirm below, Will laughed darkly as he took himself in hand. Before he pushed into her, he experimentally brushed the tip of his cock against her clit. She laughed, shivered, and cried out. More, she said. More more more. Bracing himself with one arm, Will hovered over Alice, used his cock to tease her that sensitive spot. It felt so good, touching her like that. Kissing her. Touching her. Walking with her. Swimming in the cool pond, silently moving through water and sometimes diving underneath to kiss. Talking to her. Listening to her. Watching her sleep, watching her read. Being with her._

_Will thought it might have been the heat that made him collapse. The heat and the blood rushing to his cock as he stroked himself, and then she was stroking him as he lay in her arms. Alice maneuvered, raising one leg and then guiding him inside her. Rocking against him, she hummed to herself until Will felt a rush. Light-headed and clear-eyed, he looked at her again. She kissed him, and he breathed her in. A resuscitation, and then he was moving faster. Harder. Deeper. All the while he sought her lips with his, moaning when she moaned, laughing when she laughed. She whined when his hand found her clit again, circling it faster and faster as he continued to thrust._

_He came first, sharp and hard and he bit the corner of her mouth. He couldn’t help it. He meant to hold it, or at least tell her, but he was consumed. Finger still on the button, another finger inside, his mouth back on her tit, sucking and biting and then he felt the sharpness of her nails as they bit into his shoulders. Alice arched her back, pressing her body into his, let herself be held tightly. She cried._

_They were dirty. The air was still hot and heavy. They needed to get inside, take a bath and wash their hair. Lie down. Be still. But for the moment, out of breath and spent, Will could only lay his head on her chest, feel the press of her lips to his head, and listen to the steady beat of her heart._

* * *

> _Tech billionaire and philanthropist Will Buxton has been spotted around Hammersmith. Before you ask, no, Connecticut is not due to be the next tech hub. Buxton’s aunt, Sophie Croft (née Buxton), and her husband, retired admiral George Croft, are ensconced at Kellynch Manor. While Buxton is understood to be their guest for the summer, the young bachelor can often be found frequenting cafes or shopping for quinoa at one of the Musgrove Country Market gourmet shops in neighboring Cranford. Could a certain young lady with the initials L.M. have caught his fancy? We’ll know soon enough, as both the handsome gentleman and the lovely lass are confirmed (separately) to attend (perhaps not separately?) the Russells’ annual Midsummer Night’s Dream charity fundraiser. We’ll be there in our Shakespearean finest. Will you?_

Alice sat staring at the society page of The Hammersmith Bugle. It had been left for her at breakfast, as Marjorie had taken the girls and Mary into town to get their costumes. Charles and the boys were up at the big house. Alice had the place to herself so nobody saw her slowly put her head down on the table, right next to her bowl of oatmeal, and simply breathe.

When would this be over? When might her agony come to an end?

She chastised herself for being melodramatic, but it had been three weeks. Three painfully long weeks where she was made to listen to Mary complain, listen to Charles whine about Mary’s complaints, chase after their boys. Go on endless outings with the rest of the Musgroves — she had never done so much berry picking in her life — like the good sister, in-law, neighbor, _friend_ , that she was.

Alice never wondered why the Musgroves had taken to her so much. She knew. Alice was a good girl. Low-key and low-maintenance, and capable. Reliable. She would have been the perfect wife for Charles as he took his place in the world. In comparison, Mary was demanding and uptight. She refused to take the Musgrove name completely, keeping the Elliot as a reminder of her position in Hammersmith society. It was one of the few things her father Walter approved of when she married Charles.

Alice enjoyed the Musgroves, ordinarily. But seeing them like this, single-minded and determined that Louise should be in Will’s path at every chance so that he might fall in love with her, propose to and then marry her, was torture. Three long weeks of picnics and swimming and billiards at Kellynch or an impromptu square dance in the living room at Musgrove Farm. Alice playing piano while in the center of the room Will and Louise twirled for all to see.

Three weeks of bullshit, and now they were all about to descend upon the Russells’ estate for the biggest, most expensive party of their lives.

Until the next summer’s party, which was always more lavish than the last.

Mary and Alice, upon arrival, were photographed with Eldridge and Carmody Russell, their hosts (and Alice’s godparents), for the society page. While Mary moved on to join her husband, escorted by Eldridge, Alice let her godmother exclaim over her.

“You look beautiful, Alice dear.” Carmody’s eyes swept down, noting with approval the Fortuny pleats of Alice’s vintage gown.

“It was mom’s,” said Alice. “Her Hippolyta costume.” She patted her hair, which was pulled back and up into plaits that were knotted on top of her head. “The circlet was one of the pieces she left to me in her will.”

“A shame she never came as Titania,” Carmody sighed. “She would have been so beautiful as the queen of the fairies.”

“But dad quite liked playing the Duke.”

“So who are you tonight?” Carmody asked.

Alice was about to reveal that when she heard someone say her name: “Alice!” Sophie and the Admiral were coming up the flower-strewn path. Neither of them were in costume, though Sophie wore a long, silk wrap around her shoulders. Heavily fringed and printed with constellations, it was a beauty.

Sophie hugged Alice before exchanging handshakes with Carmody. “I’m sorry we aren’t in costume, but we were too late to rent from the shops in town.”

“It’s quite alright. There are masks and wigs, all sorts of makeup.” Carmody pointed at a far corner of the room. “Right next to one of the seafood towers.”

“One of…?” The Admiral said in wonderment.

“Five,” replied Carmody. “Not counting the lobsters, of course.”

“Of course,” said Sophie. “Thank you again for the invitation. Will should be along shortly.”

When the Crofts moved on, Alice looked at her godmother closely. “I can’t believe you invited him.”

“Well, he is their guest, Alice.” Carmody said evenly.

“He’s still Will Buxton, you know,” said Alice, her voice tight.

“Yes, the billionaire bachelor, here to sweep all the pretty young things off their feet.”

“The same Will Buxton who mowed your lawns.” Alice looked in her godmother’s face. “The same Will Buxton who washed the cars, moved furniture…”

“The same Will Buxton,” interrupted Carmody, “who repaid my kindness by seducing my goddaughter.”

“Carmody, please…”

“The jumped up, social-climber who was a heartbeat away from ruining her and her good name forever.”

“That was never going to happen.”

“Says the girl who accepted the marriage proposal of a boy she’d only known for six weeks.”

Alice looked away.

“You cannot deny it,” Carmody said softly. “Six weeks? Six weeks! You came into my party with that boy, the hired help, and then had the nerve to say you were in love, that he was the one.”

Alice couldn’t deny this, so she remained silent.

“How could you? How could I let you do that? Your mother travelling with Mary, and your father busy trying to get Elizabeth married off. Who would have helped you, told you what to do?”

“Nobody,” whispered Alice. “I would have figured it out. Eventually. On my own.”

“Pardon me.”

A deep, soft voice interrupted them. Alice and Carmody away from each other to find Will standing there, dressed casually in an expensive linen shirt tucked into sharp khaki trousers. A pair of soft suede ankle boots the color of sand. His blue eyes were set off by the tan he’d acquired in his adventures with the Musgroves.

“Mrs. Russell? Will Buxton.”

“Ah, yes.” Carmody took his hand. “We… you…”

“I worked for you that one summer.” He glanced at Alice. “Me and Jamie Benwick. It was my father who made the arrangements with Mr. Russell.”

“And how is your father?” Carmody sniffed. “Is he still practicing law, or has he retired?”

“He’s dead.” Will didn’t reveal this fact with any sort of malicious intent, but Carmody still looked abashed.

“I’m sorry,” said Alice. “I didn’t know.”

Will shrugged. “It was a while ago.” He looked at Carmody apologetically. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just wanted to thank you for the invite.”

“Yes. Yes, of course.” Carmody clasped her hands together. “Are you enjoying your stay at Kellynch?”

“I am, yes. Sophie and George love it there.” He nodded at Alice. “It’s very comfortable.”

“Which room did they give you?” Carmody craned her neck, as though she could see past her lawn, through the trees, and then across the back lawn at Kellynch to see into the great house. “I always did love the rooms that face south.”

“I…” Will’s face was a little pink now. “I’m actually not at the house.”

“Oh?” Carmody arched her eyebrows. “I thought you were staying at Kellynch.”

“I am, Mrs. Russell. I am staying at Kellynch. However…” Will trailed off, just for a moment. Just long enough for Alice to wonder, perhaps even hope at what he said next.

“I’m not staying in the big house,” said Will, without looking at Alice. “I’m sleeping in the cottage.”

* * *

Alice spent the rest of the party in a daze. Nobody seemed to notice, however. Couples had been sneaking off into the bushes to fool around. Bartenders who didn’t want to haul back nearly full bottles of top shelf liquor were doubling drink orders. Marjorie had been taken home early, as she and Timothy had belly-aches from eating too many oysters. But everyone else stayed so that they could see the production of _Pyramus and Thisbe_ that always brought the evening to a close.

Will found Alice sitting on the lawn, a few yards away from the stone patio where the players were setting up. The patio’s retaining wall had been decorated with fairy lights that twinkled in the dark. He waited until she looked up at him, until she wordlessly patted the patch of grass next to her, and then he sat down.

“So what are you?” Will cleared this throat. “Who?”

Alice looked down at her dress. “Helena,” she whispered. “One of the lovers.”

“Which one was she?” Will remembered reading the play long ago at school, but did not recall of them perfectly.

“The one who…” Alice looked up at him. “She loved Demetrius, though he treated her badly. Was mean to her, then broke up with her to court her best friend.”

“What a dick,” Will said with a laugh.

“That’s one way of putting it, I guess.” She smiled shyly. “So what’s your costume then?”

He shrugged. “No costume. Just me.”

“No Oberon?” Alice could see, out of the corner of her eye, Louise stumbling through the grass to join them. “For here is your Titania.”

“My Titania?” Will’s voice faltered, then he shook his head. “No, we’re not…”

Will stopped when Louise stood between them, unsteady on her bare feet.

“So, you guys. Listen.” Louise crouched down, then lifted one arm to point at the patio where a few of the acrobats were stretching. “Before the play, I’ve got a surprise.”

“Wow, um…” Will looked at Alice. “What kind of a surprise.”

Louise shook her head. “Nuh uh. Not telling. It’ll just take a second. It’s my surprise, Will. For you.” She winked at Alice. “Check this out.”

They let her go, watching Louise make her way to the patio where the actors and acrobats were gathered. When they noticed more people joining the audience for the play, a few of them bowed while Louise climbed on top of the wall. The performers and the players clapped in time, as Louise did a few sloppy turns and spins. When she leapt up and off the wall, one of them caught her easily. And so it went, Louise scrambling up and onto the wall just so she could jump off it again.

When she did a flip instead of a simple jump, Alice and Will got to their feet. Alice shook her head, muttering to herself “No no no no no” even when a drunken reveler behind her yelled for her to sit.

“Louise, come on, that’s enough!” Will took a few steps closer, his arm held out.

“But the show must go on, William!” Louise cried out. “I am determined.”

Louise danced along the wall, flirting with striptease as she removed the flouncy skirt of her fairy costume to reveal a gold bikini bottom underneath. Raising one arm in the air, she did a series of cartwheels, then flipped back.

And then, before Will or Alice or the drunk acrobats could stop her, Louise did a double tuck flip off the wall, and landed, with a sickening thud, headfirst, on the hard stone floor.


	4. "time will explain"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened in the hours, and then in the months, following the night of Louise’s accident at the Russells’ party.

I want love to forget that you offended me   
Or how you have defended me when everybody tore me down.   
Yeah I want love to change my friends to enemies,   
Change my friends to enemies and show me how it's all my fault.

Yeah I won’t let love disrupt, corrupt or interrupt me   
I won't let love disrupt, corrupt or interrupt me   
I won't let love disrupt, corrupt, or interrupt me anymore.

Jack White, “Love Interruption”

* * *

“That was beautiful, wasn’t it?”

Elizabeth Rose Elliot, resplendent in a black cashmere cape trimmed with leather, raised a D. Porthault handkerchief that had been monogrammed with her initials, E.R.E., in script, to her nose, and blew. She gave her sisters Alice and Mary a sidelong glance, waiting for their reply.

The three of them stood in a row, surrounded by centuries old headstones. Their father, Walter McIver Elliot, stood a few feet away, shaking hands with the priest and then various Hammersmith and Cranford notables who had come down from Connecticut. The Elliot family had just hosted a service belatedly, for the fifth anniversary of the death of Consuelo Tan Elliot (née Cojuangco). The Anglican mass at Trinity Church was followed by the blessing of their mother’s grave site in the Churchyard of St. Paul’s Chapel.

Elizabeth put away the handkerchief. She picked an imaginary fleck of lint off her cape before peering down at their feet. She frowned.

“Alice, are those…?”

“Yes, Liz.” Alice rolled her eyes. “I’m wearing Docs.”

“Cuh- combat boots,” Elizabeth stuttered. “To Mother’s memorial service?”

“Liz, it’s 35, windy, and about to rain,” Alice huffed. “I wasn’t going to march out here in Gucci loafers like some people.”

“They’re fur-lined,” said Elizabeth primly. “They’re quite warm, for having an open back.”

“They’re ridiculous!” Alice exclaimed.

“They’re fashionable!” Elizabeth retorted.

The sisters were jostled when Mary moved past them, walking in the direction of the cemetery gate. Shoving her copy of the service program into a calfskin handbag, she revealed hands with knuckles reddened by the cold. She didn’t like to wear gloves.

“Cut it out,” said Mary. “I just want to get out of here.” She looked off into the distance. “There’s the car. Come on.”

The car was a black stretch limousine, unforgivably tacky according to Elizabeth, but it was capacious enough for all of them: their father, the lawyer Mr. Shepard, Mr. Shepard’s widowed daughter Hillary Clay who had become Elizabeth’s constant companion since moving to New York that summer, and the Russells. The drive up to the Elliot home at 6 East 69th Street was slow moving, as the car got caught in the rush hour traffic that was clogging up the FDR. Alice settled into her seat, shut out the sounds of her family around her, and tried to clear her mind.

Three months. Three months since the Russells’ lavish summer party. Three months since Louise Musgrove, lovely and joyful and utterly intoxicated, tried and failed to execute a double tuck flip onto the expensive stone patio at their estate.

It had been three months, and Alice still blamed herself. For not keeping track of Louise, the girl who was entitled to romance the man that Alice still loved. If Alice hadn’t been so jealous, so possessive of someone who she had been persuaded to give up when she was not even Louise’s age, so utterly consumed with her own memories of disappointment and lost opportunities, she could have stopped it.

Instead, Alice could only rush forward, push the useless actors out of the way when they tried to move Louise. Screaming, she demanded that someone, anyone, call 911 and keep the crowd away when they tried to gawk at poor Louise lying on the ground. She looked up to find Will looking at her, crouching low, his phone out and waiting.

“I called 911,” he said, shaking.

“Good. Thank you,” whispered Alice. “Please. Call her parents. Find Charles, get Mary and Hannah home.”

“A doctor?” Will’s bottom lip trembled. “Should I…?”

Alice shook her head. “Leave to the Russells, somebody who’s from here. They’ll know who to get.”

Eldridge Russell rushed over, his face pale. “Oh my god, I…” He looked up at Alice. “Carmody said somebody already called 911.”

“That was Will,” said Alice.

“What can I…?” Eldridge’s voice shook.

“Is there a doctor?” Alice sounded reassuring. “There has to be somebody who can look at her, talk to the paramedics when they arrive.”

“Of course.” Eldridge got to his feet and ran for a doctor.

Alice looked at Louise’s face, which had good color but was perfectly still. Carefully, she slipped her hands behind Louise’s head, feeling but not lifting it. She stopped when she felt something warm and sticky and wet. When she pulled her hands away, she saw that they were covered with blood. Staring at her hands, Alice was only faintly aware of the feeling of Will’s arms around her shoulders when Charles, Mary and Hannah found them.

Mary’s screams were agonizing. Charles kept her back, for Mary kept grabbing at the air, desperate to do something. “Let go of me! Stop that!”

“Please, my love…” Charles sobbed. “Alice has her. She’s got Alice. Alice will look after her.”

“But she’s nothing to Louise! Nobody! I am family!” Mary freed herself, before collapsing on the lawn. It was there that she joined Hannah, who could only sit and mumble and wring her hands.

“Mary.” Will’s breath was warm in Alice’s ear, his voice steady, as he spoke. “Why don’t I take you and Hannah home? Alice and Charles can stay, wait for Tim and Marjorie, the ambulance…”

Mary wailed again. “Oh my god! Don’t make me go! I must stay!”

Alice looked down at Louise again. She was paler now, but when she leaned in, her cheek brushing against Louise’s lips, she could hear steady, if faint, breathing. She got up, slowly, and when she did, Charles took her place at Louise’s side.

“Mary, of course you’ll stay. Marjorie will need you when she gets here.” She looked at Hannah, still weeping to herself, and went to the girl. “Han, do you want to go home?”

Hannah shook her head. “I’ll wait for Mum and Pop.”

The ambulance arrived, coming up the gravel drive then over the grass onto the back lawn. Over picnic blankets and abandoned champagne flutes, it came quietly, the siren having been cut. But its lights flashed, blue and red and a bright white that only seemed to heighten the fear and the panic.

Alice took a step, Will still with her, and together they watched the paramedics assess Louise’s condition and speak to the doctor Eldridge had found. The subsequent arrival of Timothy and Marjorie was frantic, and it was then that the Musgroves closed around Louise as she lay there. Still young. Still beautiful. Still alive. And yet unmoving.

Then Alice was walking backwards, steered by two strong hands that held her gently at the waist. She was made to stop, then turned slowly into Will’s waiting arms so she could be held. Something fluttered inside of her stomach, rising up to her chest, before getting caught in her throat. After a few moments, Will broke the embrace. Taking her hand, he lead her into the dark. Across the Russells’ lawn, under the white oaks and through the remains of her mother’s vegetable patch, right to the door of the cottage.

She waited for Will to open the door, stepping inside ahead of him when he did. The room looked almost the same, just as she had left it when she showed it to Sophie three weeks prior. White tarpaulins covered the furniture still, but the floors had been swept clean. There was a basket of fruit on the kitchen counter, and a reading lamp up in the loft next to the bed.

In the bathroom, Will’s dopp kit sat, unzipped, next to the sink. Will rooted around in the bag, producing a bar of soap wrapped in blue paper. He unwrapped it, then ran the water until it was lukewarm. Taking Alice’s hands, he soaped them up gently then rinsed. The water was muddy, then red, and then pink before it was clear. Alice’s hands were spotless but under the nails dried blood remained. Will found a spare toothbrush, ran it under the water,and brushed at her fingertips until all of the blood was gone.

And then Alice saw the blood on her dress, and the blood on Will’s shirt. She looked up, her mouth a perfect O, to find Will’s cheeks streaked with tears. When she began to scramble her hands across herself, he grabbed them at the wrist. They took a few breaths together, then he lifted her arms over her head.

Will didn’t kneel, he didn’t have to in order get Alice’s dress off and slip her underwear down her legs to the floor. He wrapped her in a clean towel, undressed himself, then started a bath. They didn’t wait for the tub to get even half full before getting in, Alice grabbing the bar of soap from the sink to lather in the bath water. The air smelled faintly of clementines as the water rose higher and higher, until it just about reached their shoulders, and Will shut off the faucet.

It was a deep tub. Alice had always loved that. She could float freely on those days when it was too cold or rainy to swim in the pond. After they had met, become lovers, she and Will bathed together in exquisite silence at the end of long hot days. Until, inevitably, they would go to bed.

The exhaustion that Alice now felt was very different from the kind she felt nine summers ago. There was no relief to be found in the tub, and the ache inside of her was still heavy and leaden. She felt guilty. She didn’t deserve to be there. It should have been Louise in Will’s arms, not her.

If Will felt this way, he didn’t say. He simply sat back, keeping his arms on the side of the tub until Alice reached up to wrap them around her shoulders. He permitted himself the luxury of keeping his lips pressed to the nape of her neck, and breathed.

When the water cooled to room temperature, he began to drain it. Once the water came up only to their waists, he eased himself out to fetch two more towels. Once he wrapped one around his waist, he helped Alice to her feet, wrapped her in the other, then lifted her out of the tub.

She was able to get to the ladder on her own. One foot in front of the other, balanced on the rungs. The towel slipped off her body as soon as she crawled into bed. She lay on her back, watching Will watch her. He let the towel fall and, for the first time in nine years, Alice looked at his naked body. She saw prominent muscles and ripples where none had been before. His jaw was broader, and he looked taller. But the look in his eyes, part yearning and part regret, was familiar.

“You…” Her voice was small. “You look different.”

Will stayed where he was. “You don’t.”

She nodded. “It’s because I’ve been here. In Hammersmith. Nothing happens. Nobody changes.”

“Oh?” Will placed a foot on the mattress, but did not step onto it.

“I…” Alice swallowed. “I shouldn’t be here.”

Will stepped onto the bed then slowly went on his knees. He crawled forward, then leaned into her. He lay on his side, then placed a hand tentatively on her bare stomach.

“Neither should I,” he whispered. Will reached over Alice, turned off the reading lamp, and then began to kiss her.

She kissed him back, allowing him to ease her lips open so she could lap at his tongue with her own. His hand moved away from her stomach to her hip, pulling at her until she turned over. Reluctantly, she broke the kiss and rested her head on his chest.

“I miss you,” he whispered.

“I…” She sobbed a little. “I’m… I’m so sorry.”

“Please,” said Will tenderly. “Don’t cry.”

She put her head back down, and he didn’t say anything when he felt her tears dripping onto his chest. They lay there, wondering how much time they had. To lie there and do nothing. To lie there then do something. Or simply wait for a call, a text, calling them back to world outside of their one small room.

And then there it was: a sharp knock on the door. Will turned his head, but did not move to answer it. “Should I get that?”

Alice shook her head. “No.” She snuggled into him. “Never.”

“It’s probably Sophie,” said Will. “Or Mary, wondering where you are.”

“I think I am the least of their thoughts, right now.”

“But you saved Louise, helped her until the ambulance came and…”

The knock came again, swift and sharp.

Reluctantly, Will got out of bed. He pressed a kiss to the top of Alice’s head.

“Thank you,” she said.

“For what?” He whispered.

“For taking care of me.”

“Alice.” Will reached down so he could hold her face in his hands. “Oh my Alice.”

They were interrupted by the front door swinging open, Sophie Croft stumbling over her gown as she fell in. The room was dark, just for a few moments, and so she cursed to herself as she searched for a light. Then the reading lamp in the sleeping loft came on, surprising Sophie. She looked up to find Will dressed only in sweatpants, and Alice pulling on an oversized tee shirt.

“Will!” Sophie watched him slip down the ladder. “I was so worried, and then Eldridge said he saw you leave with Alice so I thought…” She stopped herself. “Will, your lips are awfully swollen.”

He scrubbed at his mouth with the back of his hand. “Must have been something I ate.” He avoided looking at Alice, whose own lips were swollen as well. “How is Louise? Did you see her?”

Sophie nodded. “Just as the EMT’s were putting a brace on her. She opened her eyes.”

Alice hugged Sophie. “Oh I’m so glad.”

“They should be at the hospital by now” Sophie looked at Will. “Will you be joining them?” She looked at Alice. “Either of you? Both of you?”

“I…I…” Alice stammered. “I should probably get home. Somebody should relieve the sitter, make sure the boys are okay.”

“I’ll drive,” said Will suddenly. “Sophie, can I take the Jeep?”

“Will, I’m gonna get my dress…” Alice gestured towards the bathroom, running off before Will could reply.

In the dim light, Sophie examined her nephew’s face. “You were with Alice when…?”

“Yeah,” replied Will. “I saw her help Louise. When the ambulance came, she seemed shocked. I brought her back here to clean her up.”

“Of course,” murmured Sophie. She hugged him tightly. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Aw, Soph…” Will said.

Sophie shook her head. “I mean it. And.” She searched his face. “I’m glad she has you.”

“Louise?” Will looked abashed. “I didn’t do anything to help…”

“Will. Please. Don’t insult my intelligence.” Sophie looked stern. “Louise is a lovely girl, and I pray for her speedy recovery. But, darling.” She touched his cheek. “She’s not the reason you came to Hammersmith, is she?”

Will shook his head, then offered his cheek to Sophie for a kiss. When Alice reappeared, Sophie offered Alice her starry night shawl to wrap around her hips to wear on the ride back to the Musgroves’ farm.

* * *

Walter, Elizabeth, Alice, and Mary greeted guests who came all the way uptown for the reception, directing them to the staff provided by the caterers to take coats and packages. It was the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and a few of the people from Hammersmith used the time between the grave site blessing and the reception to sneak over to Barney’s or Bergdorf Goodman for holiday shopping. Elizabeth couldn’t help but turn her nose up at the Forever 21 shopping bag belonging to a very young, very distant cousin.

Charles arrived with the boys, waiting until Mary had given them sufficiently hard hugs before speaking. “Mom and Dad can’t come after all, but they’ll be down on Wednesday in time for Thanksgiving.”

Mary nodded. “Will the girls be joining them?”

“Yeah, Hannah wants to shop on Friday, says the stores are better here. Louise and Jamison…”

“Jamison?” Alice looked at Mary. “Who’s Jamison?”

“Jamison Benwick,” said Charles. “He’s an intern at the hospital where Louise was treated. Some cousin of Will’s friend Jamie, who came in to consult on some legal matters around the incident…”

Alice nodded. “Yeah, I remember. It’s just, I haven’t heard from Will in a while…”

Charles ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, he was there at the start. They were sort of close then, or getting there. But it was hard right after she fell, you know? It was like she knew us but she couldn’t remember. She’d only see immediate family at first. Us, the medical team, and Jamison.”

“Is he one of the doctors?”

“Barely,” said Mary with a gentle laugh. “Fresh out of medical school. She just liked the sound of his voice. He’d come in on his days off to read to her.”

“And now they’re engaged,” said Charles with a grin.

“What?! Mary clapped a hand over her mouth. “When…?”

“Some time last week.” Charles hugged Mary tight. “She told Mom and Dad last night. Louise wants to start looking at dresses next weekend. Mom’s trying to get her an appointment at Vera Wang.”

“Venues too?” Elizabeth joined the group. “She’s not going to be completely bourgeois and get married at The Plaza will she?”

“Second Episcopal Church in Cranford, where my parents got hitched.” Charles nodded at Mary. “You’ll be a bridesmaid, won’t you?”

Mary nodded. “Of course I will.” She looked down at her sons, who were now playing with cars on the floor. “Come on, Charles. Let’s get these two something to eat.”

“Charles?” Alice took her brother-in-law’s arm, watching as her sisters and nephews walked into the parlor kitchen. “Will? Have you…?”

Charles shook his head. “Not for a few weeks. I think…” He looked down at his shoes for a moment. “He wanted to stick around, make sure that there was no… that Louise didn’t think that he would, just, you know. We haven’t seen him since early last month.”

“I see.” Alice nodded. That was the last she had heard from him. After the accident, and what they did that night, Will and Alice kept their distance until she left a week later to join her father and Elizabeth. The Crofts knew only that he was traveling again, and that he said to tell her hello when he checked in from wherever he was.

“I saw the Crofts as we were leaving this afternoon.” Charles grinned. “They gave the boys some blueberry muffins for the drive down.”

“Did they look well?”

“You’ll know soon enough. They told me they were headed to town for the holiday, too.”

“Oh?” Alice felt a flutter in her chest. “Sophie hadn’t said anything when I spoke to her.”

“Sort of a last minute thing, I guess.” Charles shrugged. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I think there’s a slice of coffee cake in the kitchen with my name on it.”

Alice returned to her greeting duties, showing the later arrivals where they could go for cake and coffee. The photographer Walter had hired was subtle and discreet, taking pictures of small groups as they gathered around photographs of the late Mrs. Elliot.

At first, the idea of a photographer at a private function to commemorate her dead mother was just plain wrong to her. But as Alice looked around the room, saw the genuine smiles on the faces of the people who had loved her late mother, she was glad. Everybody was.

Even her sister Elizabeth, who lately was entertaining the romantic advances of Septimus Elliot. A cousin of a cousin of a cousin, he had appeared not long after Walter and herself had taken up permanent residency in the Manhattan house. Alice thought he was too smooth. So did her friend Derek, a writer for Vanity Fair who counted dozens of celebrities among his closest friends and was a shrewd judge of character. They both agreed that Elizabeth had never looked happier, or more beautiful, than when Septimus was at her side.

“I’ll make you a bet they’re engaged by the end of the week.” Derek sidled up to Alice, sipping whiskey from a tumblr.

“Hey!” She tapped his glass playfully. “Where’d that come from? We’re only serving coffee and tea.”

“Found it in the library.” Derek looked sheepish. “Your dad left it out, and he told me to help myself. Of course,” he realized. “He may have been tipsy when he told me so.”

Alice shook her head. “Well, I guess we may as well get some hot toddies going if that’s what people are wanting.”

Derek perked up. “That’s the spirit.” He gave Alice a quick peck on the cheek.

“What about the bet?” Alice grinned.

“If they are engaged, and I win…” Derek looked at the ceiling. “I get to write up a quick profile of you and Liz, the house, for the magazine. The new millennial hostesses of the Upper East Side.”

“Gross,” retorted Alice. “And if I win?”

Derek smirked. “I’ll give your phone number to Michael Fassbender!”

Alice squealed, swatting at Derek’s bottom as he sauntered away. She went down to the basement to fetch a couple of bottles. Leaving them to the kitchen staff with instructions to start a batch of hot toddies, Alice felt tired all of a sudden. It didn’t feel right to leave the party and her guests. But her sister and father could manage without her for a little while.

Her father tended to put up a little rope at the top of the stairs, to discourage guests from straying up to the floors where the private family rooms were located. The rope swung from one side of the doorway, so Alice hooked it to the other side after she passed through.

Alice was about to enter her bedroom when she heard a sound. Soft at first, then louder, it came from the very end of the hall. She slipped off her shoes, then crept along the wall, stopping when she found the door to her mother’s old sewing room ajar.

The room wasn’t used, as none of the girls sewed. Equipment was packed up, leaving the floor clear for Elizabeth to roll out a yoga mat when she felt like stretching. But this time on the floor was a pile of coats. Kneeling in the pile was her sister’s beau Septimus, pumping and thrusting very hard against the naked backside of her sister’s best friend Hillary Clay.

Both of them with their eyes shut, Septimus didn’t see Alice standing there, frozen in shock. Hillary grunted, for Septimus held her head down to the floor. He drew his hand up and hit her on the fullest part of her buttocks.

“Harder!” Hillary hissed. “Fuck me! Ugh!” Her face was red and her blond hair, normally so smooth and worn in a neat chignon, fell in damp locks around her ears.

“I’m gonna… I’m gonna come!” Septimus pulled out, barely giving Hillary enough time to adjust before he turned her over, grabbed her legs roughly around the thighs and thrust into her again. Hillary’s sweater had been pushed up and her bra yanked down, so her breasts flopped the faster he went. She stuck a hand between her legs, tending to her clit while his strokes became more erratic.

When Hillary opened her mouth to scream, Septimus fell forward to silence her with his hand. As he did, he looked up to find Alice still standing there. But as soon as their eyes met, Alice turned and fled, leaving Septimus to fumble and jerk about before having to explain to Hillary why he had stopped so suddenly, and came, unexpectedly, all over her stomach.

Alice didn’t wait. Coming downstairs, she ran past her sisters and her father, her brother-in-law and nephews, grabbed her coat from the little closet where the rain boots were kept. She didn’t make sense, just laughing and gasping for air as she fumbled for the door. She ran, down to the corner of 69th and Madison, past the doormen tipping their caps and the old ladies walking their dachshunds, dodging children on their way to Fifth Avenue and the park just beyond.

Alice braced herself against a building, taking a slow and steady breath. Then another. When she was ready, she took the buzzing cell phone from her pocket and read the stream of texts from her sister.

Mary: omg

Mary: omg

Mary: wtf

Mary: where r u

Mary: dad

Mary: omg

Mary: ur missing it

Mary: they found Septimus

Mary: hillary

Mary: FUCKING IN MOM’S SEWING ROOM

Mary: omg

Mary: DYING

Mary: dad is yelling

Mary: liz fainted

Mary: Eldridge and Charles are throwing them all out

Mary: septimus hillary mr shepard

Mary: me and derek are CRYING

Mary: so wrong

Mary: fuck hed better not write about this

Mary: shit

Mary: SHIT

Mary: hillary had a ring

Mary: secret engagement

Mary: WITH DAD

Mary: WHERE R U

“Alice?”

There was Will standing in front of her, cheeks pink from the cold air. He had the soft beginnings of a beard, which came in redder than the hair on his head. He reached for Alice’s hand, taking it in his.

“Well, hello!” The Admiral and Sophie joined them, having emerged from a yellow taxi cab now pulling away from the corner and heading north on Madison. “Alice, are you alright?”

“Yeah! I’m…” She caught her breath, smiling when Will squeezed her hand. “There’s a bit of a… a situation at the house.”

“Oh, yes. The reception.” Sophie nodded. “Tim and Marjorie asked if we could go in their place, while they’re settling in with Louise.”

“Of course!” Alice nodded. “But I’m sorry you had to come all this way…”

“Has it ended already?” The Admiral looked concerned.

“No. At least, I don’t think so. It’s just…” Alice looked at Will, then back at Sophie, and just laughed.

“Oh Alice, what’s wrong?” Sophie asked.

Alice just shook her head, handed her phone to watch, and decided to let Mary’s texts say what she could not explain without laughing. Faces illuminated by the glow of the phone screen, their eyes widened as they read every single one.

“Erm…” Will looked at his aunt and uncle. “What…?”

“George and I are going to…” Sophie looked at her husband. “What should we do?”

The Admiral considered. “We are…” He looked at Will. “I’m going to take Sophie back to the hotel.”

“But what about…” Will faltered.

“Why don’t you show Alice, hmm?” Sophie squeezed Will’s arm. “We’ll call in the morning, take you to breakfast.” She winked at Alice. “See you tomorrow.”

Before Alice could reply, George and Sophie walked away, hailed another taxi cab, and left her with Will. She looked up at him.

“So, I know the messages were pretty surprising but.” Alice shrugged. “I wasn’t sure I could explain.”

“I think we got the general idea.” He cupped her face in his hand. “Are you alright?”

Alice nodded. “I think so, yeah.”

“Do you want to go back home?” Will glanced up the block. “I’ll walk you.”

Alice shook her head.

“So what would you like to do?” Will took her hand again.

Alice looked at Will’s face, finding a tentative smile on his face. “Anything.”

“Come with me.”

* * *

She was quiet in the cab as it headed downtown, not daring to interrupt the silence with a remark that would sound somehow awkward or insipid. Maybe she should have gone home, plunged into the fray and done her best to help. But the day had been so… so much. And the quiet between her and Will was good. It was comfortable, the two of them holding hands as they looked out of the windows.

Alice had grown up surrounded by the trappings of her family’s considerable wealth. Even now, with the fortune diminished, there was still the house on 69th Street to call home. She, her sisters Elizabeth and Mary, and her father were the beneficiaries of trust funds that would see them live in comfort at least until the end of their lives. Kellynch may be occupied by tenants, but the deed to the house and its lands still bore the Elliot name.

The cottage at Kellynch belonged to Alice, perhaps not on paper but certainly in spirit. Sixteen year old Elizabeth should have gotten it for her own but she preferred the grandeur of a suite in the big house, where the household staff served her directly. Mary at twelve was simply too young. But given something of her own, fourteen year old Alice was happy. The cottage needed her, to clean it and occupy it. She loved the cottage, the way it made her feel and who she was when she was there. It was her home, and would always be her home. No matter where life might have taken her.

That being said, the double penthouse at 18 Gramercy Park South was nothing to sneeze at.

Will announced their arrival — “We’re here,” he whispered in her ear — as he paid the driver, then helped her out of the car. A uniformed doorman held open the door, smiling when Will greeted him warmly. The button in the restored Art Deco elevator marked “PH” was already illuminated when they got in.

It had only 10 rooms, but each room was spacious and airy. It should have been intimidating, with its expensive finishes and spotless white carpets. But the ceilings weren’t especially high, and the kitchen was fairly small. It felt like a regular home. Will gave Alice a little space, bidding her to explore on her own while he made tea and looked for something to eat in the shopping bag of treats Sophie had brought over earlier in the day.

Through each window, Alice saw the lights of New York City winking back at her. Below her was the private park that gave the exclusive neighborhood its name. She lingered on the largest terrace, the one just outside the master bedroom, and stared at the night sky. It was there that Will found her, handing her a paper cup of chamomile and a piece of yellow cake wrapped in a paper towel.

“Good cake,” Alice said.

“It is, isn’t it?” Will drained his cup, then shoved it in the pocket of his coat. He watched her take a bite of the cake, then another. He smiled at the sight of her, chewing slowly.

Alice swallowed. “It’s so buttery.”

“Sophie brought it with the tea.” He chuckled. “I think she’s already placed a grocery order for me to fill up the cupboards.”

“Ah.” Alice was about to finish the cake when the last bit slipped out of her fingers, bouncing off the front of her coat before landing on the ground. She frowned. “Nuts.”

“I’ll get some more if you like.” Will leaned in. “But here, let me get that…”

With a soft brush of his fingers, he swept away the crumbs from her coat. Upon closer inspection, he saw a few more clinging to her leg. He took care of those as well, sinking to one knee before her.

“Will.”

He looked up, took a breath, then immediately got to his feet. When she opened her mouth to speak, he cut her off with a kiss. Soft mouth, lips parted. She breathed in, he sucked on her bottom lip, and then he was pushing her back against the wall. He held on, even as she brought her hands up between them. Before he could step away, Alice unbuttoned his coat, then hers. She waited until he had taken her hand, lead her inside to the bedroom, to take their coats off.

The apartment was still furnished with things brought in by the staging company, enlisted by the agent to make the property more attractive to prospective buyers. As it was decorated to highlight the windows and their precious views, the furniture in the living areas was plain to a fault. The same could not be said of the master bedroom, where a California king bed dressed in gold silk sheets waited for them. The tinkling of an elaborate chandelier was the only other sound in the room, it’s glass drops matching the bedside lamp that glowed.

They didn’t notice a thing. Alice simply sat on the bed, tense with anticipation even as Will did everything to make her more comfortable. Kneeling before her, he removed her shoes before kissing up her stocking-clad legs. Alice tried but failed to sob discreetly. He paused, looking up with concern in his wide, blue eyes.

“I’m sorry, love…” He squeezed her knee. “Are you alright?”

Alice shook her head slowly. “No.”

Will brought himself up, holding her face in his hands as he pressed his forehead against hers. “What’s wrong?”

“I… that is, we…” Alice hiccuped. “We haven’t done what I think we’re about to do in a really long time.”

“Nine years.” He kissed her cheek. “I know.”

Alice spoke, her voice wavering. “Nine years and…”

“Alice.” Will sat back and looked at her.

“I… I wasn’t faithful.” Now she was crying in earnest. “Not with Charles, but others. Just random guys who’d come up in the summer. I was so  _ empty. _ ”

Will hugged her tight.

“I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”

“Don’t torture yourself. It’s not worth it.”

“But I’m so sorry,” she said plaintively.

“Did you love any of them? That is to say...” He considered. “It’s not my business. Forget I said…”

“No, it’s fine.” She looked at him. “I didn’t.”

Will got up to sit next to her on the bed. He blinked slowly when she met his gaze. “Can I… may I ask you something else?”

Alice nodded.

“Did you love me? All this time?” He cleared his throat. “Because I… Alice, you have to know. You must know. I always did.”

At this, she smiled weakly. “Will?”

“Yes?”

“I never stopped.”

Alice hardly finished speaking when Will pounced, pushing her back until she lay before him. He was everywhere, it seemed, all at once, all over her. She scarcely had time or space to breathe. As if she wanted it. She was happy to drown, laughing at the scratch of his beard when he nuzzled her cheek. Moaning when his hands made contact with her bare skin as he unbuttoned and slipped off her cardigan, helped her squirm out of her skirt and tights. She removed her own bra and underpants as he pulled off his own clothes.

“Slow down,” she said.

Will looked down at his bare chest, the belt he had just begun to unfasten. “Why?”

“It was like I said, back in the cottage. Right after Louise…” She bit her lip. “I want to see you. You look different.”

“Better?” Will sounded tentative.

When Alice nodded, he crawled forward, hovering just above so she could run her hands from his neck down to his chest. He was muscular and lean, not wiry like he had been as a youth. She lifted her face to his, nipping at his jaw. “This beard…” she murmured approvingly.

“Your hair,” he whispered back. “It’s all the same.”

“So’s this,” she growled, touching him between his legs, still over his jeans.

His hips bucked in reply. “Oh Alice, please…” Slowly, achingly, Will kissed down her body. He inhaled, pressing his nose into the crook of her neck. That was home to him, between her heart and her head. He lingered, grazing the spot just below with his lips while she ran her fingers through his hair.

He continued, nipping in places that were at once familiar and strange. He was remaking the maps of her body he had drawn the first time he loved her, using memory to guide him from pleasure to pleasure. Pausing at her breast, he took one pert nipple in his mouth and suck. Gently at first, then nipping with his teeth and swirling his tongue around it in turn. Alice squirmed, sometimes laughing to herself because the feeling of his beard against her body was almost too good.

He adored her body. Missed the heat and the scent of her skin, the way her stomach would contract just a little when he’d rake his teeth just below her navel. The swell of her hips, leading to the apex of her thighs. Will pressed his nose to her mound, letting the pubic hair tickle him. He drew his hands down from her belly down to her thighs, pushed them apart and then looked up.

He couldn’t help frowning at her when he caught her watching him. “Alice?”

She nodded slowly, but said nothing.

“If you’re not…” He kissed the inside of her right thigh. “If you don’t lie back completely, let your head fall.” He licked the same spot. “I’m not going to ask again.”

“Huh?”

Alice was answered when Will began to lap slowly at her clit. If she had been able to make a sound, she would have squeaked. Instead, she lay back in complete surrender.

Will used his hands to keep her legs spread, just enough so that he could press forward and explore her completely with his tongue. Up and down, he licked slowly at the folds. Always returning to that tender nub, chuckling whenever she would push against him. Even when he was already tasting her, he was desperate to give him more.  His tongue was light, and seemingly everywhere. Flicking around her clit, then inside her. He had never been shy but she’d forgotten the sounds. Obscene, loud moans as he licked and sucked. His laughter teasing her as she came closer to climax.

And then he was sucking, harder and faster. Her clit throbbed and Alice’s hands found his hair. She tugged, the feeling sharp on his scalp urging him onward. He slipped a finger inside, pumping until he found the spot just inside. Another finger, and now he was relentless. Single-minded in his pursuit of her release. She came, wordlessly, closing her thighs around him. He found her hand with his free one, holding on while her body shuddered. It was only when she was still that Will crawled up beside her, flopped on his back, and tried to catch his breath.

He expected nothing in return. The day, the night had been overwhelming enough. Will heard Alice’s breathing slow to normal, so he was surprised when she crawled on top of him. Rubbing against him, gently at first, high enough that her breasts were just within reach of his mouth. He took them in his hands, sucking again while Alice rocked against him. His cock was hard, brushing against her ass and then between her legs. She was so wet, gasping at the contact before she reached for him. Took him in hand and stroked so slowly that before he knew it he was inside her.

She tensed, tightening around him even as she began to rock. He met her with thrusts of his own. Easy at first, ever so slow. But when she began to whine, something in Will sparked. He could never resist that sound, the sound of her absolute need for him. His hands on her hips, his tongue on her breasts, his cock deep inside her. Faster. Harder. Rougher.

Where could he hold on? Anywhere. Everywhere. Leaving marks on her flesh, bruising but never hurting. Alice’s skin may have been tender, delicate even, but there was nothing delicate about the way she loved him at that moment.

Will grabbed the back of her head roughly, claiming her mouth with his own. She grabbed back, her tongue hot and slick as she kissed him back. His hips pistoned below, faster and faster. They were so close there was no chance of him slipping out, frantic as it was. The room felt hot all of a sudden, or maybe it was just them, fucking on top of impractically luxurious sheets. When Alice began to scream, a sort of sob of relief that echoed through that apartment, Will bit her shoulder. His groans were not stifled, they simply rippled through her body. As if fucking, coming inside her wasn’t enough, wasn’t enough to claim her as his after too many years of misery.

Alice collapsed and Will wrapped his arms around her. Cooing softly in her ear, he carefully laid her beside him. He could only look at her, somehow still unbelieving that she was there. Real and sweaty, her chest heaving as her eyes fluttered shut. Before he got up to get her a bottle of water, drape a blanket over her, and search for towels or anything to dry them after the bath he intended to draw, Will swept his eyes over her body once again. He pressed his lips sweetly to those spots that he cherished the most. When he kissed her lips at last, she opened her mouth, whispered “I love you”, then followed him to the bath.


	5. "when gorse is out of blossom"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after Will and Alice's reunion, and everything that came after.

_"All the privilege I claim for my own sex (it is not a very enviable one: you need not covet it), is that of loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone!”  
_ Jane Austen, “Persuasion"

* * *

If this had been a Sunday morning as Alice normally lived it, she would be waking up in her bedroom at her father’s house on 69th Street. She would have dressed, joined her family for breakfast in the kitchen, then followed Charles, Mary, and their children for service at St. James’ Church on 71st and Madison. Afterwards, the Musgroves would drive back up to Connecticut, and Alice would be left to look after her father and Elizabeth. They didn’t need much attention from her. They got plenty of that from Hillary Clay or Septimus Elliot, who Alice tended to avoid. They just needed her presence, another member of the retinue until they retired for the evening.

But this was not a normal morning.

“Alice?”

Will spoke in a hush, murmuring her name before pressing a kiss to the nape of her neck. Spooning her from behind, he had one arm draped heavily over her at the waist while the other propped up the impossibly soft pillow upon which Alice lay her head.

She reached for him, fumbling under the covers until she had taken his hand from its resting spot on her stomach. Interlaced her fingers with his, she tugged so that their hands rested upon her breast.

They breathed. Once, then again. Slow deep breaths that confirmed that this was real.

Alice pushed his arm away. Carefully, after slowly releasing his hand from hers. After a small shift, she rolled over. Smiling, Will let her push him so he lay on his back.  When he reached for her, she grasped him at the wrists, only for a moment, then released him. She placed her left hand on his jaw, brushing her fingers over the light stubble. Alice smiled when he turned his face to kiss her palm, then laughed when he nipped at the tip of her index finger.

She used both hands to tousle his hair. Teasing it one way, then another, it was just as soft if not as golden or abundant as it had been when he was young. Alice came in closer, nuzzling his face as she examined it. He had the merest hint of laugh lines around the eyes, and maybe the trace of a crease on his brow.

“So many…” she kissed his cheek. “Freckles. Just sort of hidden. There.” She kissed the corner of his jaw. “There.” A kiss to the corner of his mouth. “And oh. Even here.” She flicked her tongue just inside the shell of his ear.

Will squirmed. “Alice, please.”

She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him, lips closed but relaxed against his. She lifted her head and continued her inspection.

His face was broader, more square. He looked grown up and serious but then, he had always been serious. But the eyes, still a bright blue, were the same. Looking into them, her own dark eyes wide and innocent, Alice felt instantly at home.

Sitting up now, Alice walked her fingers down from his jaw along his neck. She traced faint lines from his shoulders down to his chest, brushing the tips of her fingers across his nipples which hardened at her touch. When he breathed her name again, she smiled to herself but said nothing.

There was something about his abdomen which, like the rest of him, was finely muscled. It was especially sensitive, Will not doing a very good job of suppressing his laughter when she touched him there. Alice moved down so that instead of straddling him she lay between his legs, nuzzling his stomach. Grasping his hips, she placed wet, suckling kisses along the trail of fine hair down from his navel to the patch of coarse pubic hair just above his cock. She skirted it, letting her warm breath indicate how close her lips were. How easy it would have been to take him into her mouth and relieve the tension that had begun to build in him ever since she woke up that morning. Instead, she looked up at him, licked her lips, then kissed the head.

Will let his head fall back. He looked at the ceiling, with its ridiculous chandelier, and then his sight became fuzzy when Alice swiped at the tip of his cock with her tongue, then licked her palm before closing her hand around his shaft. As she began to stroke him, twisting her hand around him as she pulled, she sucked gently on the head. Her hand was still moving slowly, sometimes releasing him so she could trace the veins of the shaft with her tongue. When Alice resumed stroking him, it was with a lighter touch. Only just supporting his cock as she pressed her lips to the head again, swirled her tongue around it, then began to take him further into her mouth.

He felt everything. Her silent contemplation of his body, the way it looked and felt to her hands, gave way to a lust that was vocal and lascivious. No words, just low moans and breathy sighs. And then he heard her. The sounds she made. Her mouth, slick with saliva and pre-cum, making a faint pop when she would release him. The gulp of air before sucking him again. The entirely welcome sound of her own wet arousal as she fingering herself even as she continued to pleasure him.

“Alice, love… _god_ , puh- please…” Will stuttered. He was so close, and if his cock wasn’t sliding in and out of her mouth, if he wasn’t at her mercy, he might have been able to take the lead and reciprocate the pleasure she gave. But maybe it had been too long, since there had been someone else. Since there had been her in his bed. The frenzy of the previous night should be followed by something leisurely and adoring in the light of day. And it was, but his release felt imminent. He was close.

Somehow, Will regained control of himself, specifically his hands. He ran his fingers through her hair, resisting the urge to pull even while his cock was hard and pumping between her lips. Reluctantly, Alice lifted her head. Before she could scrub her mouth with the back of her hand, Will raised his head and shook it. She got up and straddled him again, squealing with surprised pleasure when he rolled them over so that he could now look at her from above. Spreading her legs, Alice pushed her hips to grind her open sex against his cock. She guided him just inside, and when he began to thrust into her slowly, she gave him the fingers of her other hand to suck.

Quickly at first, his tongue lapping and his teeth biting. But then she had to take her hand away, as Alice had to wrap her arms around him at the neck and hold on. She angled her hips and there he was, hitting her just inside. The melting spot, the aching spot and when she tensed around him he was faster and harder. The ache became bigger, and she felt like a rubber band about to be snapped. There was nothing between them now. It was fevered and urgent, for Alice hadn’t had enough. It had been hours since they had last fucked but before that it had been years.

Now her legs were not just spread but up, Will’s hands big and rough on the backs of her knees as he scrambled to hold her in place. It felt good. It felt right. His body may have been different, but the way he loved her, close and rough and fast, felt the same. She looked at him, watched his mouth contort. She caught the flutter when his eyes opened, and made sure he saw when she slipped her hands from around his neck, found her clit, and began circling it. It was too much. The sight of her, sweaty and flushed with breasts bouncing, his cock pounding into her as she touched herself and before he could come, with no warning, she began to cry out. Writhing for him, she came. His name, over and over again, while he stiffened, jerked wildly, and followed, coming inside her.

They lay there, gasping for breath, shivering as they were too sensitive in the flesh. But the could not bear to be parted. Alice wondered if it was possible to be closer somehow. Could she wrap Will in her arms entirely, envelop him so they could feel each other and everything all at once. She pressed her face into the crook of his neck and breathed.

* * *

Another bath in the big tub was tempting, but showering was more expedient. After Alice checked her phone, and its dozens of messages from Mary, she knew there was business back at home to attend to. She made a concession to Will, though, in allowing him to join her in the shower stall, which was more of a room with jets set in the ceiling and in two of the walls. Not objecting when he insisted on shampooing her hair, she let him bathe her also.

There was just a bar of white soap, but it was enough for Will to lather his hands and paint her in bubbles that were quickly washed away by the water. He massaged her shoulders from behind, then came around the front to rub large circles around her breasts and belly. She laughed, genuinely tickled when he passed his hand between her legs, lightly tracing her slit with his fingers There was a bench in the shower, and Alice was induced to sit there while he took her legs, one at a time, into his hands and caressed them until she felt loose and supple.

It was while they were getting dressed that Alice remembered something she had said to him the previous night. She wasn’t going to bring it up but in her embarrassment she began to fidget. Will looked up from where he was kneeling, his hand placed just so on the back of her thigh He kissed her knee, sat on the floor, then tugged on her hand until she took a seat in his lap.

“What’s wrong?” Will whispered.

“I’m stuck in your lap,” she teased.

“Stuck?” Will’s hurt voice did not sound convincing. “Some ladies would say you were lucky to be where you are now.”

“A lot of ladies? Would these ladies be speaking from experience?” She smiled when she felt him kiss her cheek.

“It was just a figure of speech,” Will explained.

“I…” Alice turned to look at him. When she parted her lips, Will stole a kiss from her. “Sneaky.”

Will chuckled. “Couldn’t help it.”

“I was just, you know, cringing about something I said last night.”

“What thing would that be?” Will’s voice was light.

“The thing…” She gulped. “About being unfaithful.”

Will rested his cheek against her shoulder. “What did you mean?”

“Right after you left,” whispered Alice. She turned to the side so she now faced him. “After I made you leave. There were other guys I slept with. Dated.”

“You didn’t make me leave…” replied Will.

“But I didn’t give you a reason to stay.”

“I didn’t fight you,” said Will simply. “You made too much sense. Saying we were too young, we thought we knew what we wanted but we didn’t know what we were doing.”

“Right.” Alice nodded. “I did.”

“But it made too much sense,” said Will. “It sounded like something my dad would say.”

“I’m sorry I never got to meet him,” Alice replied.

“Thank you for that.” Will sighed. “But if I’m honest, if you had ever met him, I’m not sure that would have been a good idea.”

“Did you ever tell him about me?”

“No.”

“Why not?” Alice did not sound hurt, but genuinely curious.

“He was already excited, too excited, about me taking the job with the Russells. Like I could go from baling hay and cutting weeds in the morning to taking tea with Mrs. Russell in the afternoon…” He shook his head. “I think if he knew about you, he wouldn’t shut up about it. His only son paired off with an Elliot girl.”

“Huh.” Alice considered. “And to think Dad barely remembered meeting you at the Russells’ party.”

“You’d think he’d remember meeting me,” mused Will. “I mean, I did dress up as the lion from Pyramus and Thisbe.”

“Your hair was so curly and so long, it was perfect,” Alice replied, fondly.

“And you were a lovely wall.” Will waggled his eyebrows. “With a perfect, ahem, hole.”

“Ew!”

Alice reached for a pair of his socks that sat on the floor, attempting to hit Will with it. He ducked, maneuvering them so that now she lay below him. Will, slightly out of breath, could only smile down at her while she scowled up at him. When she settled down, he traced the outline of her lips with a finger.

“So in nine years you had a few lovers.” He leaned in and kissed her tenderly. “But you didn’t love any of them.” He kissed her again. “Did you even try?”

She shook her head. “Did you?”

Will shook his head as well. “No.”

“Why not?”

“I think it’s as simple as…” Will peered at her. “They didn’t touch me. Not the way you did.”

“How do you mean?”

“At first it was just… I was so angry,” explained Will.

“At me?”

“No, love.” Will smiled. “I was angry at myself. All the things you said… it’s like I just took it all to mean that I wasn’t good enough. Even though I knew you loved me…”

“I did,” said Alice. “I just didn't want to hold you back.”

“Oh.” Will nodded. “They stung, so much because I knew it wasn’t you saying those things. That Mrs. Russell had been in your ear. But despite that, I was worried. That I wasn’t good enough…”

“Oh Will…” Alice’s eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t mean it…”

“I just…” Will shook his head. “I wish I could have been honest with you then. Admit that I was afraid that you were, that she was right about me.”

Alice hugged him tight, not speaking just breathing him in.

“I should have fought for you,” he said.

“I should have fought Mrs. Russell.”

“She was trying to protect you, Alice.”

“There’s a difference between protecting,” she replied. “And prohibiting.”

“I agree.” He kissed her cheek. “Kiss on it, Alice?”

She missed this, the feeling of his delicate mouth on hers. The familiar weight of his body, only it wasn’t so familiar because he was older, and bigger, and harder and…

“Hold on…” Alice pushed against Will, getting a good look. He hovered above her, taking delight in the way she eyed him. Covetously, and without an ounce of shame about it.

“What?” He smirked.

She ran a hand over his hair. “I miss the curls. The blondness.”

Will nodded. “It doesn’t get light as it used to.”

“It hasn’t for some time,” said Alice.

“For some time? How would you know”

“I liked to torture myself over the years,” said Alice, returning his playful smirk with one of her own. “Look you up, your accomplishments.” She frowned. “Your girlfriends.”

Will sighed.

“Just tell me this, at least,” said Alice, trailing her hand down to the nape of his neck. She pulled him in, planting kisses on his cheeks as she spoke. “Did Taylor Swift really want to marry you?’

“Do you really want to know?”

“Well, yeah! That’s why I asked.”

“Fine.” Will leaned in and began to nibble on her ear.

“Will, that’s nibbling not telling,” Alice moaned.

“Well,” murmured Will. “She didn’t propose, but she did…” He began to suck at the base of Alice’s neck. “She already had a ring.”

“Picked out?” Alice arched her back when Will moved down her body, teasing her breasts with his tongue through the thin cotton of her shirt.

“More than that. Ooh…” Will groaned when Alice tugged hard on his hair. He growled at her, then raked his teeth over her nipples. “As in, she brought it on our fifth date. A date, I’d like to point out, where her publicist, manager, makeup artist, and mother were present.”

Alice looked at him, aghast. “Really?”

Will nodded. “Really.”

Alice lay back. “That’s insane.”

“You know what’s insane?” Will said drowsily.

“What?”

“The fact that I’ve been teasing and tantalizing you for five minutes and that you’re still able to speak coherently.”

“Well, talking about another woman will do that to a girl.”

Will shot her a dirty look. “You brought her up!”

“So what are you going to do about it?” Alice’s eyes sparkled.

“Everything.” Will kissed the tip of her nose. “All over you.” He kissed her again. “Right now.”

* * *

Carmody Russell was there, sweeping Alice into her arms as soon as she and Will walked through the door at 6 East 69th Street. She kept her voice down but the sharpness of her tone was unmistakably clear.

“Alice, where were you?” She narrowed her eyes at Will. “We’ve been worried sick!”

“Have you?” Alice was genuinely curious. With the drama she had left behind, who would have cared where she had gone?

“Of course! Your father was furious, Mary was beside herself, and poor Lizzie!” Carmody made a clucking sound. “Her heartbreak!”

“Was Septimus really an Elliot, or was that…?”

“Yes, yes, he was. But.” Carmody placed a hand on her throat. “He only wanted to marry Elizabeth…”

“They were engaged?” Alice’s mouth fell open.

“Well, no, but Lizzie had said the signs were there.” Carmody frowned. “She had even gotten your mother’s ring out to give to him to propose with.”

“Poor Liz,” said Alice. She felt consoled when Will, who had been standing behind her, reached for her hand. Squaring her shoulders, she looked at her godmother with a smile. “Carmody, you remember Will?”

Carmody nodded. “Of course,” she said stiffly. She did not look at him, however, or otherwise acknowledge his presence. “Why don’t we all go into the sitting room?”

Alice nodded, then looked up at Will for reassurance. Her eyes widened in surprise when he pulled her into him, kissing her deeply, much to Carmody’s dismay. When he released her, Alice’s cheeks were red.

“What was that for?” She whispered.

“Courage,” he replied. He tipped her chin up so he could kiss her forehead. “For me, love.”

Alice walked ahead, Will and Carmody just behind. The older woman looked at him disapprovingly. Just outside the sitting room, she stopped him.

“Mr. Buxton, I’ve no doubt that Alice is too happy to see you.” When Will did not reply, she pressed on. “But I can see that your presence here, when Alice needs to be with her family in a time of difficulty, may not be a help.”

“Oh?” He arched an eyebrow at her.

“I don’t know if you can tell but,” said Carmody, drawing herself up. “You have an extraordinary ability to discompose my friend, sir.”

Carmody did not know what to expect, but the look of righteous pity in Will’s eyes was not one of them. He removed her hand from his arm.

“And you,” he said quietly. “You have an extraordinary ability to influence her, ma’am, for which I find it hard to forgive you.”

Will followed Alice into the drawing room, leaving Carmody momentarily speechless in the corridor.

The family appeared surprised to see Will there, all except Alice who slid over on the divan so he could join her. Before he sat, he nodded at Walter and Elizabeth.

“Mister Elliot. Miss Elliot. You may not remember me, but I’m Will Buxton…”

“Of cuh-course!” Walter sat up. “I’m sorry we’re in a bit of disarray but there’s been some family troub-- I mean, some business that we’re sorting.”

Elizabeth dabbed at her wet eyes with another of her D. Porthault handkerchiefs. “Yes, but I think we’ve managed to dodge it.” She leaned in to address Alice. “Septimus is gone! And Hillary with him!” Her bottom lip trembled.

“Oh,” said Alice flatly. She looked at her father. “Was it true, what Mary said?”

“Mary, what did you tell your sister?” Walter frowned at his youngest daughter.

“The ring?! The ENGAGEMENT?!” Mary cried.

“Oh, um, yes.” Walter huffed. “Nothing there, really, but I did give Hillary a bauble. A trifle, really, and she may have taken that to mean…”

“Well, if she ran off with Septimus, then I don’t think she really took it to mean anything at all…” said Alice.

“Alice!” Carmody glowered at her from the corner.

“Oh Will,” said Mary plaintively. “What you must think of us right now.”

“Well, erm…” Will didn’t know what to say. “I hope I am not intruding.”

“Hardly,” said Elizabeth, her eyes sparkling. “When Mary said you’d become acquainted with the Musgroves, we could hardly believe it! A simple country family with a billionaire in their midst!”

“And now here you are,” said Walter. “I can only hope that our company will be sufficiently impressive as _theirs_.” He did not notice the offended look on Charles’s face.

“Walter…” said Carmody.

“Did you come down to see Charles?” Walter looked at his son-in-law with uncharacteristic pride.

“Not quite, sir,” replied Will. When Alice looked up at him, he smiled. “It’s just… my offer of marriage to your daughter Alice has been accepted.”

“WHAT?” Elizabeth shrieked. Carmody clapped her hand over her mouth. Mary looked astonished but it wasn’t long before she was smiling so broadly she hardly looked like herself.

“Alice has agreed to marry me, you see,” said Will with a grin. “And we’ve come here to consult with you on the date.”

* * *

**Epilogue**   

> _Alice Clover Elliot and William Atherton Buxton were married December 31 in Hammersmith, a hamlet of Greenwich, Connecticut. The non-denominational service at Kellynch Manor, the bride’s childhood home, was lead by the groom’s uncle, retired Rear Admiral George Costello Croft._
> 
> _Miss Elliot, 28, was recently elected to the board of The Phillip W. and Marianne J. Elliot Foundation, replacing her father as its secretary. She graduated summa cum laude and received a B.A. with high distinction in art history from Brown University._
> 
> _The bride is a daughter of Walter McIver Elliot of New York City and the late Consuelo Tan Elliot (née Cojuangco). The bride’s father was the last chief executive officer and president of The Elliot Paper Companies until its closure in 2010._
> 
> _Mr. Buxton, 29, is an investor and philanthropist. After graduating from Harvard University with a B.S. in Political Science, he worked for Admiral Croft as a personal attache. It was during this time that he developed and patented operational software used in a variety of industries including aeronautics, mechanical engineering, and water filtration in developing countries._
> 
> _He is the son of the late H. Bruce Buxton and the late Vanessa Lehman Buxton._
> 
> _Brady, Lois Smith. "Alice Elliot, William Buxton." The New York Times January 1 2016: Page ST9._

* * *

> _"Now, we shan’t never be parted. It’s finished.”  
>  _ E.M. Forster, “Maurice”

Alice stood waiting in front of the Cranford General Store, protected from the brilliant July sun by a plum colored awning that said “Cranford General Store - Breakfast Lunch Coffee Pie - Since 1918”. It was humid, and the air was still. No breeze to provide relief, just the infrequent whoosh of cold air from within the store whenever the doors happened to open.

She wore a castoff dress of her sister Mary’s. Blue and white seersucker, it had thin straps that tied at the shoulder and a wraparound skirt. She could adjust the fit around the waist, which was convenient. But being five inches taller than her sister, she felt a little awkward going out in something so abbreviated.

At Alice’s feet was a cardboard drink carrier which, when carried, sagged under the weight of three cold drinks sweating in plastic cups. An extra large Mountain Dew for him, unsweetened iced tea with extra lemon slices for her, and strawberry lemonade, light on the strawberries, for the baby.

She was about to text her sister again when a Porsche Cayenne rounded the corner from Main onto Bath Street, sped past her, then backed up and came to a stop, right at the curb. The passenger side door popped open to reveal Alice’s sister Mary, who was leaning over from the driver’s seat.

“Sorry about that, Alice. We got held up at the library and then the boys were squabbling…” Mary cleaned up the footwell as she talked.

Alice smirked when she caught her sister ogling the drinks. “Not a chance, Mary,” laughed Alice, slipping on her sunglasses. “Isn’t that an extra large Diet Coke from McDonald’s in your cupholder?”

Mary shifted gears and began to drive in the direction of Hammersmith. “It’s hot. A lady gets thirsty, and sometimes requires backup drinks.”

The drive to the Russells’ and the pond that sat between their estate and Kellynch was mercifully less bumpy than it was ten years ago. It wasn’t paved but the village paid to have it smoothed out in time for the increase in summer traffic. Mary hummed to herself as she drove, which allowed Alice the opportunity to lean her head against her window and watch the world flash by. Hedge by hedge, gate by gate, the distance between properties grew larger the closer they drew to Hammersmith and its mansions.

No doubt the pool at the old country club would be crowded. That the seaside villages would be humming with sailors as they took their schooners out for the day was certain. But Alice preferred the pond. She cherished it, as a place of solitude and peace. When she was a child, she largely had it to herself. Her parents and sisters preferred the country club. As an adult, it was still Alice’s. But now she had a family of her own to share it with.

Mary took Alice as far as the Russells’ barn, hopping out to help her with the drinks and her purse. She squinted at her sister. “My dress looks good on you.”

“It looks slutty on me, Mary.” Alice looked down at herself. “My boobs are about to fall out of this thing.”

“Whatever, you know they look good. And big, what with you being…”

“Ugh,” said Alice good naturedly. “Don’t remind me!”

“Do you need help getting to the dock? I think the ground might be too soft in places, after the rain earlier this week.”

Alice shook her head. “It’s okay. It’s a short walk.”

Mary nodded. “Have fun, Alice.”

She leaned in to kiss her sister’s cheek. “Thanks again for coming over with the clothes this morning. I thought I’d packed enough but my cutoffs didn’t fit when I tried them on.”

“That’s what you get, packing for the summer without trying stuff on first.” Mary tutted. “Maybe this means you’ll finally burn dad’s old shirt!”

“I love that shirt!”

“It’s a rag!”

“It’s an heirloom!”

Mary threw up her hands. “I give up.”

“Finally!” Alice grinned when Mary stung her tongue out at her before she drove off.

Mary had been right about the ground being soft. Alice took her time, carefully balancing the weight of the drinks in one hand and her own tote bag hanging from the opposite shoulder. She did take off her sandals, for she did love the feeling of the soft grass under her bare feet.

Upon reaching the pond, she set everything down on the dock with some relief. She removed the dress, revealing the red two piece bathing suit she wore underneath. Alice had never been one for bikinis but admitted they were practical when it came to accommodating an ever expanding belly like hers. She withdrew a floppy hat from her bag, jammed it on top of her head, then carried everything to the end of the dock.

“Who’s that?” Will cooed as Alice approached. He was dry but dressed for swimming in a pair of plain navy blue trunks. The baby in his arms wiggled at the sight of Alice, making the ruffled skirt of her pink swimsuit flap up and down with her movements. Will let his legs dangle, his feet just skimming the surface of the cool water, while the baby kicked happily.

“Hello, loves.” Alice sat cross-legged next to them, noting with approval that their child was wearing a small pink hat to shield her face from the sun. The baby’s soft skin was smeared with sunblock, so Will kept one arm wrapped snugly around her.

“Ooh, drinks…” Will’s hand was slapped away when he reached for his soda.

“Hat first!” Alice frowned at the sight of his forehead, which was red after a few hours in the sun. “You’re setting a bad example for Franny.”

At the sound of her name, the baby piped up. The sight of Will’s cap sitting askew on top of his head made her giggle. Her eyes widened when she saw the pink lemonade

“Okay, Franny, but I have to mix it up first.” Alice tasted it, then made a face. “Too sweet.” She made up a bottle, mostly water with a splash of lemonade. Franny made a strange little growling sound in anticipation of this rare and beloved treat, clapping when her mother gave her the bottle.

Will laughed. “And though she be but little, she is fierce!” He took her little foot in his hand and squeezed it gently while Franny drank contentedly from the bottle.

Frances Day Buxton had her mother’s eyes and coloring, and her father’s curly hair and disposition. Born the previous summer, she had spent her first few months sleeping in her mother’s old bedroom at Kellynch. The Crofts had been thinking of letting their lease expire, but Kellynch was a natural gathering place for all of their families — the Elliots and the Musgroves, the Croft cousins from Cranford — as they welcomed the newest addition. Franny didn’t seem unnerved by the crowds but she did prefer a smaller regular group. George and Sophie. Mary and Charles. Jamison and Louise, Hannah. Matty, who did not hesitate to send them all away when Franny began to fret. And, of course, her parents.

For fall and winter the three of them nested in the apartment in Gramercy Park. In spring they travelled, visiting friends abroad once Franny was old enough to fly safely. Summer, of course, brought her and her parents home, back to where she was born, and where it began for Will and Alice so long ago.

There wasn’t much to do in Hammersmith except bike, walk, sleep, read books, mow the grass or supervise the people hired to do it. Weed the vegetable patch, stay out of Matty’s way in the kitchen, drive over to Cranford for see family.

And, of course, swim.

When Franny finished her watered down lemonade, Will handed her off to Alice to hold while he pushed off the dock and got into the water. So close to shore, the water only came up to his chest. He accepted his daughter back from his wife, holding the baby aloft for a moment before he settled her against his shoulder.

Franny was surprised by how cold the water was, her face crumpling for a moment before she began to cry. Will consoled her, murmuring gently as he kissed her temple. Franny sniffled but settled, only a little startled when he drizzled water on her back. It was only when Will turned so she could see Alice join them that Franny relaxed.

Alice rested her hand lightly on her daughter’s back, then rested her head on her husband’s shoulder. When she felt his lips on her forehead, she looked up. For a second, the sun was bright in her eyes. A temporary glare of white and then she saw him, blue eyes blazing and smiling broadly. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and listened to the sounds of home.


End file.
